'V    J    ^^•^•^^^B^^*^^^^™ 

Bwiailffi 

^^1 


W,  D.  Brewster, 
FEB  11    1886 


THE 


MORMON  PROBLEM, 

10  %  American 

WITH  AN  APPENDIX, 


CONTAINING  FOUR  ORIGINAL  STORIES  OF  MORMON 

LIFE,  FOUNDED  UPON  FACT,  AND  A  GRAPHIC 

AND    THRILLING    ACCOUNT    OF    THE 

MOUNTAIN  MEADOWS  MASSACRE. 


BY   REV.    C.    P.    LYFORD, 

Minister  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  for  Four  Years  a 
Missionary  in 


AUTHOR   OF    "TITHING,"    "THE    PRIESTHOOD,"   AND    "  BRIGHAM 
YOUNG'S  RECORD  OF  BLOOD." 


"  I  live  above  the  law,  and  so  do  this  people." — BRIGHAM  YOUNG. 

Mormon  Journals  of  Discourses,  vol.  i,  p.  381. 


NEW  YORK: 
PHILLIPS    &    HUNT. 

CINCINNA  TI: 
CRANSTON    <&*    STOWE. 

1886. 


Copyright,  1886,  by 
PHILLIPS    &    HUNT, 

NEW  YORK. 


Bancroft  Library 


r 


TO  THE  MEMORY 

OF 
THE  LATE  HON.  JAMES  B.  McKEAN, 

CHIEF-JUSTICE  OF  UTAH, 
AND 

"  THE  NOBLEST  ROMAN  OF  THEM  ALL," 

THIS  VOLUME 

X*  afftctionattln  iDclJtratfii 

BY  THE  AUTHOR. 


PRE.FACE. 


THE  defenders  of  Mormonism  will  find  enough  to 
do  in  explaining  away,  if  they  can,  the  citations  of 
Mormon  authorities  and  the  facts  of  Mormon  history 
contained  in  this  volume.  I  commend  them  to  the 
task. 

To  all  others  the  work  is  submitted  as  an  effort  to 
throw  light  upon  a  question  of  national  interest  and 
importance,  and  to  assist  the  citizens  of  this  country 
in  determining  the  measure  of  their  responsibility  in 
the  matter.  Of  these  indulgence  is  craved  for  the 
imperfections  of  the  book,  and  a  Careful  considera- 
tion of  its  contents  is  asked. 

The  work  is  the  result  of  thirteen  years  of  careful 
study  and  research,  four  of  which  were  spent  in  Utah  ; 
and  the  author  trusts  that  his  sources  of  information 
have  been  sufficiently  extensive  and  reliable  to  entitle 
his  conclusions  to  the  study  and  confidence  of  the 
people. 


PREFACE.  5 

"We  are  entitled  to  add,  that  we  have  presented 
but  a  moiety  of  the  data  at  hand,  and  have  purposely 
condensed  our  presentation  of  the  case  within 
narrow  limits,  where  volumes  could  be  written  con- 
cerning each  point  established.  Yolumes  would 
accomplish  nothing  if  the  facts  presented  should 

prove  unavailing. 

C.  P.  L. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.  THE  QUESTION  STATED 7 

II.  THE  EXTENT  OF  THE  EVIL 16 

III.  THE  REMEDIES  PROPOSED 28 

IY.  THE  "  THEOCRACY  " 38 

Y.  CRIME  AND  LAWLESSNESS 76 

VI.  CRIME  AND  LAWLESSNESS — CONTINUED 98 

VII.  A  NATIONAL  BROTHEL 124 

VIII.  THE  RESPONSIBILITY  FIXED 155 

IX.  ADDRESS  TO  THE  CHURCHES 1 74 

APPENDIX : 

"LIVING  IT  OUT" 193 

THE  "  COUNCIL  OP  DAN  " 212 

THE  QUESTION  SUBMITTED 232 

A  GENTILE  IN  UTAH 246 

THE  MOUNTAIN  MEADOWS  MASSACRE  OP  1857..                .  271 


THE 

MORMON   PROBLEM. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE    QUESTION    STATED. 

No  question  of  public  interest  has  been  so  univers- 
ally misunderstood  as  the  Mormon  question.  The 
most  popular  misapprehension  relates  to  the  single 
crime  of  polygamy. 

That  feature  of  Mormonism  is  so  revolting  to  our 
natures,  so  offensive  to  the  moral  sense  of  the  age, 
and  so  completely  at  war  with  all  our  instincts  and 
with  the  best  interests  of  society,  that  it  has  the  most 
impressed  itself  upon  the  public  mind. 

The  references  in  the  platforms  of  political  parties, 
the  papers  emanating  from  the  chief  magistrates  of 
the  nation,  and  almost  all  discussion  upon  the  floor  of 
Congress  relating  to  Mormonism,  have  been  coniined 
to  this  evil ;  and  nearly  all  legislative  enactrnent  thus 
far  has  had  for  its  sole  end  the  suppression  of  this 


8  THE  MORMON  PROBLEM. 

practice.     With  but  few  exceptions,  the  press  lias  pre- 
sented no  other  issue  than  polygamy. 

The  popular  idea  is,  that  with  this  evil  suppressed 
the  duty  of  the  nation  would  be  accomplished.  Judge 
Goodwin,  of  Salt  Lake  City,  has  well  said :  "  Ask 
nine  out  of  every  ten  men  in  the  country  what  there 
is  objectionable  in  the  Mormon  faith  and  in  Mormon 
practices,  and  the  answer  will  be,  that  '  polygamy  is 
preached  and  practiced.7  But  behind  polygamy  there 
is  in  the  Mormon  creed  a  deadly  menace  to  free  gov- 
ernment few  suspect.  And  yet  this  is  true.  The 
Mormons  have  a  '  celestial  kingdom  of  God,'  and  a 
4  kingdom  of  God  on  earth.'  This  latter  means  the 
rule  of  its  people  in  temporal  things  ;  and  the  dream 
of  the  Mormon  leaders  is,  that  under  this  rule  the 
governments  of  the  earth  will  one  by  one  be  brought, 
until  the  whole  world  shall  be  subjugated."  This 
"  kingdom  "  in  America  is  the  most  important  fact  to 
Americans ;  but  it  is  entirely  overlooked  in  the  gen- 
eral feeling  that  polygamy  alone  demands  notice. 
This  latter  view  has  been  strengthened  by  the  utter- 
ances of  those  who,  in  the  midst  of  other  great  inter- 
ests, and  burdened  with  responsibilities  of  public  af- 
fairs that  have  absorbed  attention  and  called  for  the 
most  diligent  application  of  their  powers,  have  con- 


THE  QUESTION  STATED.  9 

tented  themselves  with  the  study  of  this  feature  of 
Mormonism  to  the  exclusion  of  the  history  and  domi- 
nation of  the  hierarchy  that  has  established  it  within 
our  borders  and  maintained  its  practice.  It  has  been 
further  strengthened  by  the  writings  and  addresses  of 
those  who  have  made  but  a  superficial  study  of  the 
matter ;  who  have  spent  a  week  or  perhaps  a  month 
in  Salt  Lake  City,  and  possibly  have  been  feasted  and 
banqueted  and  hoodwinked  by  the  Mormon  rulers 
themselves,  until  they  have  gone  away  impressed  with 
their  hospitality  and  convinced  that,  excepting  for  this 
gross  iniquity,  they  are  a  much-abused  people.  Be- 
sides, many  of  the  most  important  publications  upon 
the  subject  have  been  from  the  pens  of  female  writ- 
ers, and  many  of  the  most  effective  speakers  have 
been  those  who  were  formerly  victims  of  plural  mar- 
riage. They  have,  naturally  enough,  written  and 
spoken  chiefly  of  that  from  which  they  have  suffered 
the  most ;  and  the  sympathies  and  emotions  of  the 
nation  have  been  stirred  by  their  recitals,  until  every 
other  phase  of  the  question  has  been  ignored. 

The  Mormon  rulers  have,  undoubtedly,  favored  this 
exclusive  attention  to  the  doctrine  and  practice  of 
polygamy.  So  long  as  the  public  mind  is  concentrated 
upon  that  alone  they  are  left  undisturbed  in  the  great 


10  THE  MORMON  PROBLEM. 

work  of  extending  and  building  up  their  "  kingdom," 
in  the  misgovernment  and  robbery  of  their  victims, 
and  in  the  furtherance  of  their  political  schemes. 

While  Congress  has  been  debating  and  legislating, 
and  while  the  people  have  been  crying  aloud,  and 
while  the  courts  have  been  operating  for  the  suppres- 
sion of  polygamy,  the  Mormon  priesthood  has  been 
busy  in  gathering  its  converts  by  tens  of  thousands 
from  the  ends  of  the  earth  for  the  purpose  of  colo- 
nizing them  throughout  the  vast  mountain  region  of 
which  Utah  constitutes  the  center ;  it  has  created  its 
monopolies  and  erected  its  bulwarks  of  defense  against 
the  appliances  of  Christian  civilization  ;  and  it  would 
to-day  sooner  relinquish  altogether  the  practice  of 
polygamy  than  its  system  of  tithing  or  its  exercise 
of  absolute  power  over  its  deluded  followers. 

In  fact,  the  great  danger  at  the  present  hour  is  that 
it  will  abandon  polygamy  for  a  time — and  for  a  pur- 
pose. Let  the  Mormon  Conference,  at  its  next  ses- 
sion, or  in  the  near  future,  declare,  by  the  passage  of  a 
resolution,  that  it  will  yield  to  the  national  will  and 
submit  to  the  law  in  this  particular,  and  the  danger  is 
that  the  public  mind  would  be  so  appeased  thereby 
that  Utah  would  be  admitted  as  a  State,  and  then — the 
dominant  power  in  Utah  could  revive  polygamy  and 


THE  QUESTION  STATED.  11 

its  other  practices,  and  snap  its  fingers  in  the  face  of 
the  Federal  Government.  In  the  pretended  penitence 
and  submission  of  a  few  of  the  most  prominent  Mor- 
mon leaders  and  life-long  polygamists  there  are  al- 
ready indications  of  this  movement. 

Let  it  be  understood,  once  and  for  all^that  polyg- 
amy, dark,  debasing,  and  unlawful  as  it  is,  is  not  the 
greatest  evil  or  the  chief  difficulty  in  Utah.  Before 
our  task  is  completed  we  shall  endeavor  to  convince 
the  reader  of  these  pages  that  it  is  a  greater  crime  and 
a  more  fearful  and  blighting  curse  than  one  can  un- 
derstand who  has  not  long  resided  where  he  has  had 
personal  observation  of  its  results ;  but  it  will  also 
appear  that  there  is  that  which  a  thousand  times  more 
demands  the  attention  of  our  citizens  and  of  their 
representatives  in  the  national  legislature.  Many 
years  ago  a  federal  judge,  in  addressing  a  grand  jury 
convened  in  the  city  of  Provo,  Utah,  uttered  these 
truthful  words : 

"  Polygamy  is  the  merest  nothing  compared  with 
the  bloody  despotism  which  forced  it  upon  and  per- 
petuates it  among  the  people."  Suffice  it  for  the 
present  to  say,  that  probably  not  more  than  one 
eighth  of  the  Mormon  people  practice  polygamy, 
and  that  it  would  soon  cease  to  exist  if  it  were  left 


12  THE  MORMON  PROBLEM. 

to  itself  and  to  the  civilizing  and  Christianizing 
influences  that  surround  it  and  would  soon  over- 
whelm it. 

The  Mormon  question  is  not  a  religious  question. 

It  is  true  that  a  Church  organization  exists;  that 
it  has  its  priesthood,  its  forms  of  religious  worship, 
and  its  doctrines  that,  right  or  wrong,  command  the 
assent  of  its  followers.  Mormonism  is,  in  a  sense, 
a  religion,  and  the  Mormon  people  claim  to  con- 
stitute a  Church.  But,  as  such,  the  American 
people  have  never  been  called  upon  to  meddle  with 
it.  The  battle  in  Utah  between  truth  and  error  and 
between  true  worship  and  that  which  is  false  must  be 
fought  upon  other  moral  battle-fields;  the  Govern- 
ment must  not  interfere.  And  here  has  arisen  an- 
other misapprehension. 

One  of  the  ablest  writers  of  the  day,  during  the 
pendency  of  the  "  Edmunds  bill,"  published  in  sub- 
stance the  following : 

"The  Mormon  problem  is  the  most  profound  and 
difficult  of  any  with  which  the  American  people 
have  ever  been  called  to  deal.  The  constitutional 
guarantees  of  religious  liberty  to  American  citizens 
render  it  next  to  impossible  that  more  stringent  leg- 
islation should  be  had." 


THE  QUESTION  STATED.  13 

Many  statesmen  and  many  religious  and  political 
journals  have  taken  the  same  view.  "  We  cannot 
interfere  with  a  Church  or  with  the  religion  of  any 
people,"  say  they.  The  Mormon  hierarchy,  quick  to 
discern  its  advantage,  has  profited  thereby.  "We 
will  worship  God  according  to  the  dictates  of  our 
own  conscience.  We  must  and  will  live  our  relig- 
ion," they  cry  in  their  own  defense. 

If  the  so-called  "  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Latter 
Day  Saints  "  were  a  Church,  and  nothing  more — if  it 
claimed  and  exercised  churchly  prerogatives,  and 
nothing  more — and  if  Morrnonism  were  a  system  of 
religion  or  of  irreligion,  and  nothing  else — the  discus- 
sion would  be  at  an  end. 

The  Government  of  the  United  States,  in  its  legis- 
lative or  other  departments,  cannot  restrain  either 
true  or  false  prophets.  It  cannot  abolish  a  true  or 
a  false  religion  ;  nor  can  it  prohibit  belief  in  absurd 
doctrines  or  monstrous  superstitions;  nor  yet  can  it 
interpose  to  prevent  false  worship  or  the  practice  of 
unreasonable  religious  rites  and  duties  in  Utah  or 
elsewhere.  It  has  never  been  called  upon  to  do  so 
by  the  friends  of  Americanism  in  Utah,  or  by  non- 
Mormons  in  the  States.  But  if  Mormonism  is  openly 
and  avowedly  a  system  of  civil  government,  entirely 


14  THE  MORMON  PROBLEM. 

hostile  to  the  United  States  Government — if  it  puts 
itself  in  opposition  to  our  laws  and  institutions,  and 
more  especially,  if  it  is,  in  theory  and  in  practice,  an 
organized  system  of  crime  and  outlawry — and  if,  in 
addition,  it  proves  to  be  a  system  of  foul  social  abom- 
inations, that  strike  at  the  very  corner-stone  of  the 
great  fabric  of  society  and  are  destructive  of  the 
sanctity  of  homes,  then,  we  submit,  the  "constitu- 
tional guarantees  of  religious  liberty  to  Amer- 
ican citizens "  cannot  be  brought  forward  in  its  de- 
fense. 

That  it  is  all  this  and  much  more,  these  pages  shall 
abundantly  show. 

The  real  question  at  issue  is  this :  Shall  a  so-called 
Church  establish  a  "  kingdom "  in  the  heart  of  this 
Republic?  Shall  it  maintain  therein  a  worse  than 
military  or  other  despotism  ?  Shall  it  arbitrarily 
govern  a  Territory  to  the  exclusion,  so  far  as  is  pos- 
sible, of  all  rightful  authority  ?  And  shall  organized 
outlawry  exist  within  our  borders,  under  cover  of  a 
pretended  religion,  and  receive  the  protection  that  is 
due  to  religious  liberty  ?  Or  is  it  the  prerogative  of 
the  American  Government  to  throttle  and  remove 
such  a  monstrosity  ? 

This  is  the  real  "  Mormon  question,"  and  it  is  pass- 


THE  QUESTION  STATED.  15 

ing  strange  that,  with  all  the  known  facts  of  Mormon 
history  and  with  all  the  light  that  has  been  thrown 
upon  the  subject  from  so  many  sources,  so  great  a 
number  of  well-informed  citizens  and  public  men 
can  be  found  who  can  only  see  the  Church  and  the 
religious  side  of  that  question. 


16  THE  MORMON  PROBLEM. 


CHAPTEE  II. 

THE  EXTENT  OF  THE  EVIL. 

1.  Its  Numerical  Strength. 

The  growth  of  Mormonism  has  been  without  a  par- 
allel in  the  history  of  any  religious  or  irreligious 
movement.  In  1826  Joseph  Smith  claimed  to  have 
discovered  the  gold  plates  on  which,  it  was  alleged, 
were  engraved  the  contents  of  the  Book  of  Mormon. 
In  1830  the  Church  was  organized  in  Seneca  County, 
New  York,  with  but  six  members.  On  the  14th  of 
April,  1847,  a  party  of  one  hundred  and  forty-eight, 
led  by  Brigham  Young,  started  for  the  Rocky  Mount- 
ains, and,  on  the  24th  of  July,  1847,  entered  Salt 
Lake  Yalley.  In  1860  there  had  come  to  be  forty 
thousand  Mormons  in  Utah.  In  ten  years  the  num- 
ber had  increased  to  eighty-seven  thousand.  In  ten 
years  more,  namely,  in  1880,  there  were  one  hundred 
and  twenty-five  thousand  in  Utah,  with  about  twenty- 
five  thousand  more  in  the  adjacent  States  and  Terri- 
tories. There  are  at  least  one  hundred  thousand 
more  in  their  mission-fields  and  conferences  through 


THE  EXTENT  OF  THE  EVIL.  17 

out  the  world.  So  that  in  the  little  more  than  fifty 
years  since  the  Church  was  organize*},  a  man  who 
came  forward  with  a  lie  in  his  mouth  and  a  ctolen 
manuscript  in  his  hand  to  proclaim  one  of  the  most 
monstrous  delusions  of  all  time,  has  obtained  a  fol- 
lowing of  more  than  a  quarter  of  million  of  souls. 

From  this  stand-point  the  outlook  for  the  future  is 
most  alarming.  Fifty  years  ago  the  Church  began 
its  work  with  six  members — now  it  numbers  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  thousand :  then,  the  first  convert  and 
dupe  mortgaged  his  farm  to  publish  the  first  edition 
of  the  Book  of  Mormon ;  now,  a  million  dollars  is  col- 
lected annually  through  the  tithing  system :  then,  the 
handful  of  believers  were  without  character,  reputa- 
tion, or  influence  ;  now,  the  leaders  are,  many  of 
them,  men  of  learning  and  eloquence,  directing  a 
powerful  press  and  publishing  interest,  and  taking 
their  place  with  the  representatives  of  the  nation : 
then,  they  were  confined  in  their  operations  to  one  or 
two  townships ;  now,  their  ecclesiastical  organization 
is  in  every  land,  and  their  labors  proceed  in  every 
center  of  population  and  among  all  the  races  of  the 
earth.  If  from  such  a  beginning  such  results  have 
been  reached,  what  shall  follow  from  a  skillful  use  of 

existing  resources  during  the   next  fifty  years?     A 
2 


18  THE  MORMON  PROBLEM. 

divine  who,  when  he  speaks,  has  the  ear  of  the 
nation,  recently  said  that  "  Mormonism  is  dying  out 
of  itself ; "  but  it  was  never  increasing  so  rapidly  as 
now.  Converts  in  large  numbers  are  being  made 
in  the  United  States,  while  every  year  ship-loads  of 
Mormon  immigrants  are  brought  to  these  shores ;  and 
within  the  last  three  years  nearly  ten  thousand  have 
arrived.  Let  the  "  prophet "  utter  the  word  of  com- 
mand and  one  hundred  thousand  more  would  speed- 
ily gather  in  the  "  Promised  Land."  Whatever 
else  Mormonism  may  mean,  it  means  tremendous 
vitality  and  enormous  proportions  at  no  far-distant 
day. 

2.  Its  Political  Strength. 

The  Mormon  vote  is  solid.  Whether  it  be  in 
Utah  or  in  other  Territories  and  States,  it  is  always 
a  unit  in  support  of  Church  interests.  There  are  no 
divisions,  no  disaffection,  and  no  jealous  strifes.  In 
every  political  campaign  in  Utah  there  is  only  one 
issue — the  supremacy  of  the  "  Church  "  on  the  one 
hand,  and  the  supremacy  of  Americanism  on  the  other. 
All  classes  and  shades  of  belief  are  ranged  on  one  side 
or  the  other  of  that  question,  and  all  minor  questions 
are  swallowed  up  in  this.  The  result  is,  that  every 
member  of  the  Territorial  Legislature  is  a  high  digni- 


THE  EXTENT  OF  THE  EVIL.  19 

tary  of  the  Church ;  all  local  and  municipal  govern- 
ment is  under  the  same  control ;  and  it  comes  to  pass 
that  in  America  a  Church  absolutely  governs  a  Terri- 
tory, and  that,  as  it  shall  hereafter  appear,  in  the  in- 
terests of  immorality  and  crime. 

It  matters  not  by  what  methods  this  result  is  ob- 
tained, it  is  enough  for  our  present  purpose  that  it  is 
obtained.  The  fact  before  us  is,  that  a  few  priestly 
rulers  control  the  suffrages  of  the  masses  for  the 
maintenance  of  a  perfect  despotism. 

In  Utah  the  sway  is  absolute,  and  is  sure  to  remain 
so  until  the  power  of  the  hierarchy  is  overthrown. 
The  Territory  would  make  two  States  of  the  size  of 
New  York.  In  Idaho  the  priesthood  holds  the  bal- 
ance of  political  power,  and  probably  also  in  Nevada, 
Wyoming,  and  Arizona,  and  is  fast  coming  to  have 
that  advantage  in  New  Mexico,  Colorado,  and  Mon- 
tana. It  is  the  policy  of  the  Church  to  colonize  no 
more  adherents  in  Utah,  but,  upon  their  arrival,  they 
are  sent  out  into  the  rich  and  inviting  valleys  of  all 
the  surrounding  country.  The  scheme  is  to  render 
themselves  secure  against  all  the  approaches  of  Amer- 
ican law  and  institutions,  by  obtaining  a  controlling 
political  power  over  this  vast  domain;  and  at  the 
present  ratio  of  increase,  the  first  presidency  of  the 


20  THE  MOKMON  PKOBLEM. 

oligarchy  will  soon  be  able  to  determine  the  result  of 
an  election  in  an  area  of  territory  eight  times  as  great 
as  the  whole  of  New  England.  The  prize  to  be  given 
to  any  party  for  admitting  Utah  as  a  State  is,  first? 
two  votes  in  the  Senate ;  second,  that  of  several  mem- 
bers of  the  lower  House ;  third,  the  electoral  vote ; 
and  fourth,  the  controlling  political  influence  in  no 
less  than  eight  new  States  and  Territories.  In  the 
"  North  American  Eeview  "  for  March,  1881,  Judge 
Goodwin,  of  Salt  Lake  City,  declares  that  if  the  rem- 
edy is  postponed  for  fifteen  years  longer,  nothing  less 
than  an  exhausting  civil  war  will  suffice  to  overcome 
this  enemy  of  republican  government ;  and  Governor 
Murray,  of  the  same  Territory,  cries  aloud  in  the  ears 
of  the  people  :  "  I  warn  the  country  of  the  dangers 
that  beset  the  Government  in  this  irrepressible  con- 
flict." 

3.  Its  Ecclesiastical  Strength. 

The  priesthood  of  the  Mormon  Church  is  com- 
posed of  nearly  all  the  holy  orders  ever  mentioned : 
Prophets,  patriarchs,  apostles,  bishops,  elders,  dea- 
cons, teachers,  and  the  like.  It  has  its  "  first  presi- 
dency," its  "  seventies,"  its  innumerable  "  quorums," 
"councils,"  and  "stakes  of  Zion." 

Its  system  of  espionage  and  of  government  is  per- 


THE  EXTENT  OF  THE  EVIL.  21 

feet.  Take  any  Mormon  town :  In  every  block  of 
buildings  is  the  "  Teacher."  It  is  his  duty  to  keep 
himself  thoroughly  informed  as  to  the  religious 
faithfulness,  domestic  life,  business  affairs,  political 
attitude,  and  personal  plans  and  purposes  for  the 
future  of  every  one  residing  in  that  block.  He  may 
enter  every  house,  question  and  cross-question  every 
inmate  thereof,  demand  the  most  explicit  statements, 
and  insist  upon  truthful  answers  to  all  his  inquiries. 
In  every  ward  of  the  city  (all  Mormon  towns  are 
incorporated  as  cities)  is  the  "Ward  Bishop."  He 
has  the  same  supervision  of  the  ward  that  the  several 
teachers  have  in  their  blocks  of  buildings,  and  to  him 
the  teachers  report.  Over  the  whole  town  is  the  "  Pre- 
siding Bishop "  (always  the  mayor)  with  his  council. 
To  him  the  ward  bishops  report.  Over  all  the  towns, 
that  is,  over  the  entire  territory,  is  the  "  First  Presi- 
dency" at  Salt  Lake  City,  to  whom  the  presiding 
bishops  report ;  so  that  from  the  teacher  in  the  block 
of  buildings  up  to  the  head  of  the  Church  in  Salt 
Lake  City  there  is  a  complete  chain  through  wliicli 
knowledge  of  the  affairs  of  any  individual  in  the 
territory  may  be  immediately  communicated,  and  in 
return  the  will  of  the  priesthood  may  be  at  once 
conveyed.  That  will  is  to  be  instantly  obeyed.  We 


22  THE  MORMON  PEOBLEM. 

give  a  few  examples  from  Mormon  authorities  as  to 
their  claim  to  supreme  authority. 

Heber  C.  Kimball,  in  a  sermon  preached  during 
the  so-called  reformation  in  Utah,  said  :  "  Brigham 
Young  is  my  God  and  your  God,  and  the  only  God 
you  will  ever  see  if  you  do  not  obey  him.  Joseph 
Smith  was  God  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth  when 
he  was  among  us,  and  Brigham  is  God  now." 

"This  strain,"  the  Church  historian  adds,  "was 
caught  up  by  the  elders  of  the  Church  and  reiter- 
ated, from  Orson  Hyde  down  to 'the  most  ignorant 
teacher,  and  to  question  it  was  to  be  put  under  the 
ban."* 

At  another  time  this  same  "apostle"  thus  deliv- 
ered himself : 

"  If  Brother  Brigham  should  get  a  revelation  from 
God  concerning  his  servant  Heber,  it  would  be : 
1  Let  my  servant  Heber  do  all  things  whatsoever  my 
servant  Brigham  shall  require  at  his  hands,  for  that 
is  the  will  of  his  Father  in  heaven.'  If  that  is  the 
will  of  God  concerning  me,  what  is  the  will  of  God 
concerning  you?  It  is  the  same."f  "When  I  triHe 
with  the  priesthood  I  trifle  with  the  Almighty.  I 

*  "  Rocky  Mountain  Saints,"  p.  294. 

f  "  Mormon  Journals  of  Discourses,"  vol.  ii,  p.  153. 


THE  EXTENT  OF  THE  EVIL.  23 

forfeit  my  salvation  and  every  blessing  I  possess."  * 
To  me  the  word  comes  from  Brother  Brigham  as  the 
word  of  the  Lord,  whether  it  is  written  or  not."  f 

While  the  author  was  in  Provo,  Utah,  Brigham 
Young  said,  in  a  sermon  preached  in  that  city,  "I 
say  unto  you,  that  the  priesthood  have  a  right  to 
dictate  unto  you  even  in  setting  up  a  stocking,  as  to 
the  shape  of  the  heel  and  length  of  the  toe." 

The  Mormon  golden  Aile  is :  "  Mind  your  busi- 
ness, pay  your  tithing,  and  OBEY  THE  PBIESTHOOD." 

It  would  be  easy  to  produce  similar  statements  by 
the  volume.  They  embody  the  corner-stone  of  the 
whole  Mormon  system.  They  have  been  the  burden 
of  all  public  teaching  from  its  earliest  day  until  the 
present  time.  "As  the  angels  of  God  obey  in 
heaven,  so  must  men  obey  in  all  things  on  earth." 
"  As  the  soldier  obeys  the  command  of  his  superior 
officer,  so  must  Latter  Day  Saints  obey  the  officers 
of  the  army  of  the  living  God,"  etc. 

A  poor  and  credulous  people,  mostly  unacquainted 
with  self-government,  must  stand  in  great  terror  of 
such  an  organization — upon  the  favor  amd  patronage 
of  which  their  subsistence  and  very  life  depends ! 

*  li  Mormon  Journals  of  Discourses,"  vol.  ii,  p.  156. 
f  Ibid.,  p.  159. 


24  THE  MORMON  PROBLEM. 

It  is  also  very  readily  seen  with  what  facility 
petitions  to  the  Federal  Government,  protests  against 
Congressional  enactments,  and  popular  expressions  in 
favor  of  polygamy  are  obtained.  "As  the  angels 
obey  in  heaven,  so  must  the  Latter  Day  Saints  obey 
on  earth."  It  is  the  secret  of  the  much -boasted 
"  Mormon  unity."  "  We  vote  as  a  unit,  we  speak  as 
a  unit,  we  pray  as  a  unit,  and,  if  needful,  we  can  die 
together,"  said  one  of  their  orators ;  to  which  it  might 
be  added,  that  under  the  state  of  affairs  now  existing 
in  that  unhappy  Territory  nothing  else  is  possible. 
The  people,  outside  the  priesthood,  are  generally 
poor.  The  most  of  them  are  far  from  native  land, 
and  all  feel  that  there  is  an  impassable  gulf  between 
them  and  society.  The  majority  could  not  get  as  far 
as  Omaha,  if  they  should  try.  Moreover,  they  be- 
lieve that  they  are  in  the  "  kingdom  of  God  "  in 
Utah,  and  have  no  desire  to  leave.  The  rank  and 
tile  of  the  Mormon  people  are  honest,  self-sacrificing 
victims  of  a  great  delusion,  and  are  entirely  within 
the  grasp  of  a  merciless  hierarchy. 

The  field  of  operations  and  the  extent  of  prose- 
lyting effort  conducted  by  this  organization  are,  in 
view  of  the  purpose  of  the  same,  somewhat  appalling. 
We  take  pleasure  in  presenting  a  statement  made 


THE  EXTENT  OF  THE  EVIL.  25 

in  a  religious  journal  by  a  well-informed  writer,  Pro- 
fessor George  N.  Marden,  of  Colorado.  He  says  : 

"To-day  the  Mormon  Church  has  as  many  mis- 
sionaries as  has  the  American  Board..  In  one  year 
(1881)  they  sent  out  one  hundred  and  eighty -nine, 
besides  seventy-nine  to  Arizona,  to  spy  out  and 
secure  fche  best  land  in  that  Territory  for  colonization 
purposes.  One  day  last  April  (1883)  sixty-one  Mor- 
mon missionaries  were  at  the  Grand  Central  Hotel, 
New  York,  and  sailed  the  day  following.  On  the 
16th  of  October  thirty  more  left  Salt  Lake  City  in  a 
Pullman  car.  Within  eight  months  of  last  year 
about  three  thousand  Mormon  proselytes  arrived  at 
New  York. 

"The  Mormons  have  missions  in  England,  Scot- 
land, Wales,  France,  Germany,  Italy,  Denmark,  Swe- 
den, Norway,  Switzerland,  Malta,  Gibraltar,  Hindu- 
stan, Australia,  Siam,  Ceylon,  China,  Chili,  Guinea, 
the  West  Indies,  the  Sandwich  Islands,  New  Zea- 
land, Iceland,  on  the  banks  of  the  Nile,  and  even  in 
the  Holy  Land.  Twenty- seven  nationalities  were 
represented  in  one  of  their  recent  public  celebrations. 
More  converts  were  sent  to  Utah  in  the  last  two 
seasons,  since  the  passage  of  the  Edmunds  Bill,  than 
in  any  four  years  previous.  Rural  districts  in  the 


26  THE  MOKMON  PHOBLEM. 

Carolinas,  Georgia,  and  Tennessee  have  yielded 
many.  The  "  Book  of  Mormon  "  is  now  printed  in 
many  tongues,  and  periodicals  are  issued  in  at  least 
eight  languages.  .  .  .  Some  of  the  best  portions  of 
Arizona,  Wyoming,  New  Mexico,  Idaho,  and  Colo- 
rado are  under  Mormon  control.  .  .  . 

"All  the  Protestant  Evangelical  Church  jnembers 
in  Wyoming  do  not  numerically  equal  one  sixth  part 
of  the  Mormon  Church  members  of  that  Territory. 
Arizona  has  thirty  times  as  many  Mormons  as  Prot- 
estant Evangelical  Church  members.  In  Colorado 
only  one  denomination,  the  Methodist,  exceeds  the 
Mormon.  In  Idaho  the  leading  denomination  is  the 
Presbyterian,  but  for  every  Presbyterian  there  are 
fifteen  Mormon  Church  members  in  that  Territory. 
Congregationalists  have  in  Arizona  two  churches,  the 
Mormons  have  thirty-five.  In  Colorado  Congrega- 
tionalists have  twenty-four  churches,  Mormons  have 
thirty-three.  In  Wyoming  the  proportion  is  as  four 
to  thirty-two,  while  in  Idaho  is  one  Congregational 
church  over  against  forty-two  Mormon  churches.  It 
will  surprise  many  to  learn  that  in  the  list  of  forty- 
four  religious  denominations,  named  by  the  census, 
only  seventeen  exceed  the  Mormons  in  membership, 
while,  if  measured  by  the  number  of  priests  or  minis- 


THE  EXTENT  OF  THE  EVIL.  27 

ters,  only  four  denominations  of  this  country  exceed 
the  Mormons" 

It  is  very  evident,  from  all  these  facts,  that  Mor- 
monism,  whatever  else  it  is,  is  no  weakling,  and  is  in 
no  way  "dying  out." 

The  methods  employed  by  this  organization  in 
furthering  its  ends  in  Washington,  and  in  the  great 
commercial  and  business  centers,  shall  form  the  sub- 
ject of  another  chapter  in  its  proper  place. 


28  THE  MORMON  PEOBLEM. 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE  REMEDIES  PROPOSED. 

WHAT  shall  be  done  for  the  extirpation  of  Mor- 
monism?  has  been  a  question  occupying  the  atten- 
tion of  the.  American  people  for  many  years. 

It  was  thought  by  many  that  when  the  railroad 
reached  Utah  it  would  give  the  death-blow  to  Mor- 
monisrn.  It  gave  it,  instead,  new  life  and  vigor.  It 
put  it  in  close  communication  with  the  mercantile 
interests  of  the  world.  It  enabled  it  to  erect  the 
great  commercial  monopoly  known  as  u  Z ion's  Co-op- 
erative Mercantile  Institution,"  a  monopoly  that  ena- 
bles it  to  control  in  its  behalf  a  large  degree  of  the 
influence  of  the  business  world.  It  rendered  the 
transportation  of  its  proselytes  across  the  great  plains 
and  through  the  passes  of  the  mountain  region  an 
easy  matter.  It  greatly  enhanced  the  value  of  Mor- 
mon property.  It  made  a  market  for  the  products 
of  Mormon  toil  by  developing  the  mining  interests  of 
the  Territories,  so  that  Salt  Lake  City  became  a  cen- 
ter of  trade  for  the  support  of  that  great  industry. 


THE  EEMEDIES  PROPOSED.  29 

It  gave  them  an  opportunity  to  practice  their  cajol- 
ery and  flattery,  and  their  arts  of  subornation,  upon 
many  men  of  letters  and  of  public  influence  through- 
out the  world.  In  a  word,  it  enabled  the  hierarchy 
to  successfully  pursue  its  scheme  of  empire. 

It  was  believed  by  many  that  the  influx  of  Gentile 
population  would  cause  the  disintegration  of  the 
"  kingdom."  But  so  carefully  guarded  was  the  Church 
against  the  approach  of  "Babylonish"  multitudes, 
that  it  was  not  adversely  affected  thereby.  In  Salt 
Lake  City,  where  there  is  a  population,  in  round  num- 
bers, of  thirty  thousand,  of  which  the  "  Gentile  "  por- 
tion is  perhaps  about  one  fourth,  non-Mormons  find 
it  possible  to  engage  successfully  in  all  the  various 
avocations  ;  this  is  true  also  of  the  mining  towns  and 
settlements  ;  but  in  nearly  all  the  Territory  besides  so 
complete  is  the  monopoly  in  favor  of  Zion,  that  Gen- 
tiles are  practically  excluded.  We  give  an  illustra- 
tion. In  the  city  of  Provo,  where  the  author  resided 
three  years,  the  license  fee  exacted  of  "  outsiders  "  for 
selling  intoxicating  drinks  was  one  hundred  dollars 
per  month.  The  city  contained  about  five  thousand 
inhabitants,  of  which  only  about  one  hundred,  includ- 
ing "  apostate  Mormons,"  were  non-Mormons.  As 
only  the  latter  would  patronize  a  Gentile,  it  was  im- 


30  THE  MORMON  PROBLEM. 

possible  for  one  to  succeed  in  the  traffic.  At  first 
sight  this  might  appear  like  an  effort  to  restrict  the 
sale  of  liquor  and  restrain  the  vice  of  intemperance. 
But  a  Church  liquor  store — a  branch  of  Zion's  Co- 
operative Mercantile  Institution — kept  bj  a  Church 
official,  and  adding  its  profits  largely  to  the  revenues 
of  the  Church,  was  kept  without  any  license  fee  what- 
ever being  paid.  In  like  manner  almost  every  indus- 
try was  monopolized  in  the  interests  of  Zion. 

Many  writers  have  claimed  that  the  introduction  of 
Gentile  fashions  would  render  Mormon  family  life, 
where  plural  marriage  existed,  so  expensive  that  it 
would  necessarily  be  abandoned.  ~Not  a  few  of  the 
journals  of  the  country  have  seriously  argued  that  the 
millinery  store  would  overcome  polygamy.  But  the 
Mormon  theory  and  practice  is,  that  polygamous  wives 
must  not  only  support  themselves  in  great  measure, 
but  contribute  largely  to  the  income  and  property  of 
their  liege  lords. 

Others  thought  that  the  death  of  Brigham  Young 
would  so  weaken  Mormonism  that  it  w^ould  die.  That 
event  gave  Mormonism  added  strength  and  a  new 
lease  of  life.  Brigham  had  become  weak  and  child- 
ish, and  yet  arrogant,  in  his  old  age.  He  was  contin- 
ually bringing  Zion  into  embarrassing  situations  by 


THE  REMEDIES  PROPOSED.  31 

his  perverse  opposition  to  the  plans  of  his  younger 
and  wiser  associates.  For  years  previous  to  his  death 
they  had  felt  that  his  removal  would  be  a  blessing  to 
the  cause.  It  proved  to  be  so.  A  much  abler  and, 
if  possible,  a  more  unscrupulous  man,  succeeded  him. 
The  younger  blood  of  the  Church  began  to  flow 
through  the  body  politic.  The  burden,  which  had  be- 
come well-nigh  unbearable  to  the  priesthood,  was  re- 
moved when  the  yoke  of  Brigham  Young's  intolerant 
supremacy  fell  off.  When  John  Taylor,  and  a  few 
others  of  the  more  obdurate  and  crime-hardened 
rulers  shall  pass  away,  and  the  younger  and  more 
careful  men,  who  have  learned  wisdom  by  contact 
with  the  outside  world  and  by  business  life,  shall  suc- 
ceed them  in  "  holding  the  keys  of  the  kingdom,"  then 
shall  additional  prosperity  come  to  that  kingdom. 

It  is  claimexl  by  others  that  schools  and  churches 
and  libraries  and  the  other  appliances  of  Christian 
civilization  will  ultimately  uproot  the  evil. 

If  these  were  sufficient,  the  process  would  still  be 
too  slow.  Before  these  can  succeed,  without  other 
interference,  immigration  from  foreign  mission  fields 
alone  will  establish  such  an  empire  of  priestly  domin- 
ion as  to  defy  these  agencies.  But  the  missionaries  of 
Utah  will  bear  us  witness  that  but  comparatively  few 


32  THE  MORMON  PROBLEM. 

converts  are  made  from  the  ranks  of  Mormonism. 
The  accessions  to  Gentile  Churches  come  largely  from 
"  apostates  "  and  Gentiles  themselves. 

As  a  more  effective  remedy  many  urge,  "  Let  the 
sword  and  musket  be  used."  But  if  these  were  to  be 
relied  on  without  other  aid,  we  make  bold  to  say  that 
they  would  not  be  effective.  Nothing  but  a  war  of 
extermination  would  make  the  measure  successful. 
Even  such  a  war  would  be  of  long  continuance.  A 
handful  of  Modoc  Indians,  in  the  Lava  Beds,  held  the 
whole  United  States  Government  at  bay  for  a  long 
period.  The  Mormon  leaders  could,  to-day,  command 
an  armed  and  well-drilled  force  of  twenty  thousand 
men  in  the  defiles  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  with  their 
fruitful  valleys  and  their  homes  behind  them.  Be- 
sides, there  does  not  at  present  exist  such  a  state  of 
things  in  Utah  as  would  justify  the  shedding  of  blood  ; 
and,  more  than  all,  the  remedy  can  easily  be  found  in 
the  use  of  peaceful  measures. 

The  remedy  that  we  have  to  submit  to  the  citizens 
of  the  United  States,  and  to  justify  in  these  pages,  is 
not  new.  It  has  been  submitted  in  substance  by 
three  Presidents  ;  it  has  been  urged  in  the  national 
legislature  by  able  senators  and  representatives;  it 
has  been  the  theme  of  nearly  all  writers  and  speakers 


THE  REMEDIES  PROPOSED.  33 

who  have  been  thoroughly  conversant  with  the  Mor- 
mon question  for  several  years.  It  has  been  the  ter- 
ror of  the  Mormon  priesthood  and  the  subject  of  their 
gloomy  forebodings  by  day  and  by  night.  To  avoid 
it  they  would  sacrifice  polygamy  without  hesitation  ; 
and  to  resist  it,  when  it  shall  seriously  threaten  them, 
all  their  resources  will  be  employed.  It  would  prove 
the  utter  dissolution  of  the  "  kingdom,"  the  overthrow 
of  their  power,  and  the  end  of  their  crimes.  Where 
other  measures  have  proved  to  be  as  mere  paper  pel- 
lets falling  harmlessly  in  the  air,  this  would  be  a 
thunder-bolt  shattering  their  whole  stronghold  to 
atoms,  and  Mormonism,  with  its  oppressive  tyranny, 
its  subversion  of  government,  its  nullification  of  law, 
and  its  foul  abominations,  would 

"  Go  down  'neath  the  tramp  of  old  King  Time, 
To  sleep  with  his  gray-haired  years." 

It  remained  for  President  Arthur,  in  his  message 
to  Congress  in  1883,  to  put  it  in  its  clearest  and 
strongest  form  before  the  world.  And  when  his  rec- 
ommendation was  ignored,  still  convinced,  after  long 
and  patient  study  of  the  question,  that  it  was  the  only 
adequate  remedy  for  this  appalling  evil,  in  his  annual 

message  of  1884  he  reiterated  his  views,  and  for  the 
3 


34:  THE  MOKMON  PROBLEM. 

second  time  strongly  urged  their  adoption.     The  pas- 
sage is  here  given  in  his  own  language  : 

"  I  am  convinced,  however,  that  polygamy  has  he- 
come  so  strongly  intrenched  in  the  Territory  of  Utah 
that  it  is  profitless  to  attack  it  with  any  but  the  stoutest 
weapons  which  constitutional  legislation  can  fashion. 
1  favor,  therefore,  the  repeal  of  the  act  upon  which 
the  present  government  depends,  the  assumption  ~by 
the  national  legislature  of  the  entire  political  con- 
trol of  the  Territory,  and  the  establishment  of  a  Com- 
mission with  such  powers  and  duties  as  shall  be 
delegated  to  it  l)ii  law"  * 

O  «7 

"I  again  recommend,  therefore,  that  Congress  as- 
sume complete  political  control  of  the  Territory  of 
Utah,  and  provide  for  the  appointment  of  Commis- 
sioners, with  such  governmental  powers  as  in  its 
judgment  may  justly  and  wisely  be  put  into  their 
hands."  f 

The  ground  upon  which  this  stringent  legislation 
is  urged  is  the  suppression  of  polygamy.  Bat  when 
it  shall  appear  that  Utah  is  the  seat  of  a  vast  con- 
spiracy against  the  United  States  Government  by  the 
establishment  therein  of  a  treasonable  "theocracy" 
— that  Mormonism  is  but  another  name  for  a  great 

*  Message  of  December,  1883.        f  Message  of  December,  1884. 


THE  EEMEDIES  PROPOSED.  35 

ecclesiastical  empire — and  further,  that  the  contem- 
plated legislation  is  not  merely  for  the  suppression  of 
polygamy,  but  also  of  a  general  system  of  organized 
crime  and  outlawry,  then  will  its  urgency  and  reason- 
ableness be  increased  a  thousand  fold. 

That  these  additional  reasons  exist  the  reader  shall 
be  fully  convinced  by  complete  and  unanswerable 
evidence.  Indeed,  the  stronger  testimony  shall  be 
from  the  Mormon  leaders  themselves,  and  from  well- 
authenticated  facts  of  Mormon  history.  The  evi- 
dence shall  come,  not  from  a  few  erratic  writers  or 
speakers,  but  from  the  very  highest  authorities ;  the 
facts  of  history  cited  shall  not  relate  merely  to  times 
of  excitement  and  fanatical  enthusiasm,  but  shall 
cover  the  whole  period  from  the  first  inception  of  the 
system  until  the  present  day. 

It  is  frankly  conceded  that  the  legislation  would 
be  stringent ;  but  such  a  constitutional  commission 
would  not  be  without  precedent,  as  every  citizen 
knows.  It  is  also  as  frankly  conceded  that  it  is  un- 
usual ;  but  so  is  the  state  of  affairs  in  Utah  unusual. 
It  is  not  un-American,  unless  it  be  un-American  to 
maintain  in  the  Territories  of  the  United  States  re- 
publican government  as  against  a  usurping  priestly 
despotism,  and  the  supremacy  of  American  law  as 


36  THE  MORMON  PROBLEM. 

against  an  original  band  of  outlaws  whose  hands  are 
full  of  blood. 

If  it  be  urged  that  the  remedy  proposed  would 
make  the  innocent  suffer  with  the  guilty  by  depriv- 
ing them  of  self-government,  the  answer  is,  in  part, 
that  they  are  already  deprived  of  it  by  a  tyrannical 
hierarchy ;  the  answer  is  further,  that  the  innocent  in 
Utah  are  exceedingly  anxious  thus  to  suffer,  and  that 
the  provisional  government  need  only  exist  until 
such  time  as  the  Territory  should  be  Americanized ; 
and  that  greater  good  would  result  ultimately  to  all. 
So,  when  in  some  locality  the  yellow  fever  is  raging 
all  communication  with  the  outside  world  is  sus- 
pended, even  those  not  affected  by  the  malady  are 
made  to  suffer  thereby ;  and  so  when,  under  certain 
circumstances,  the  unusual  but  not  un-American 
expedient  of  placing  a  large  district  under  martial 
law  is  resorted  to,  until  the  emergency  necessitating 
it  ceases  to  exist. 

There  is  something  suspicious  in  the  zeal  with 
which  some  men  contend  for  the  ordinary  constitu- 
tional methods  of  dealing  with  these  plotters  of  trea- 
son and  these  "holy  and  everlasting  murderers," 
merely  because  they  call  themselves  "Latter  Day 
Saints;"  and  something  exceedingly  marvelous  in 


THE  REMEDIES  PROPOSED.  37 

the  persistency  with  which  all  facts  that  render 
extraordinary  and  vigorous  measures  constitutional, 
are  forever  put  out  of  sight. 

It  is  upon  the  strength  of  these  facts,  which  shall 
now  be  adduced,  that  we  make  our  appeal  unto  the 
American  people,  and  in  the  name  of  justice  and 
on  behalf  of  the  oppressed  manhood  and  degraded 
womanhood  of  Utah,  ask  that  this  offensive  monstros- 
ity of  the  Rocky  Mountains  be  at  last  overthrown 
and  cast  out. 


38  THE  MOEMON  PKOBLEM. 


CHAPTER  IY. 

THE     THEOCRACY. 

WE  submit,  first  of  all,  the  following  proposition 
and  the  evidence  supporting  it,  as  constituting,  in 
part,  the  basis  of  our  appeal. 

FIKST  PROPOSITION  :  The  Mormon  Church  is  avow- 
edly a  Theocratic  kingdom,  claiming  throughout  its 
entire  history  to  le  independent  of  and  superior  to 
all  human  government,  and  especially  hostile  to  the 
Government  of  the  United  States,  its  institutions  and 
laws. 

Its  rulers  and  officers,  it  is  claimed,  are  appointed 
directly  by  the  Almighty,  with  full  power  to  rule  as 
God  rules  in  heaven.  Its  laws,  as  enacted  by  its 
priesthood  in  the  territorial  legislature  or  in  muni- 
cipal councils,  come  through  divine  inspiration,  and 
all  its  regulations  and  methods  are  by  direct  revela- 
tion from  above. 

"  We  are  a  government  unto  ourselves,"  they  cry. 
"  What  right  has  any  human  government  to  meddle 
with  us,  and  what  obligation  are  we  under  to  recog- 


THE  THEOCRACY.  39 

nize  the  authority  of  men  who  attempt  to  lord  it 
over  us  ? " 

That  we  have  not  overstated  the  Mormon  position 
we  will  now  abundantly  show  from  their  own  highest 
authorities. 

THE  EVIDENCE  :  As  the  Mormon  rulers  speak  of 
the  Church  as  the  "kingdom  of  God,"  it  may  be 
well  to  give  their  own  understanding  of  that  term. 

Parley  P.  Pratt,  one  of  the  twelve  apostles,  pub- 
lished an  "  inspired  "  volume,  entitled  "  The  Voice 
of  Warning."  One  chapter  is  devoted  to  the  "  King- 
dom of  God."  On  pages  66  and  67  he  says : 

"  Now  when  we  speak  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  we 
wish  it  to  be  understood  we  mean  his  organized  gov- 
ernment on  the  earth.  .  .  .  Four  things  are  required 
to  constitute  any  kingdom  in  heaven  or  on  earth ; 
namely :  first,  a  king ;  secondly,  commissioned  officers 
duly  qualified  to  execute  his  ordinances  and  laws; 
thirdly,  a  code  of  laws  by  which  the  subjects  are 
governed ;  and,  fourthly,  subjects  who  are  governed. 
Where  these  exist  in  their  proper  order  and  regular 
authority  there  is  a  kingdom.  In  this  respect  the 
kingdom  of  God  is  like  all  other  kingdoms." 

On  page  Y4:  he  lays  great  stress  upon  the  fact  that 
the  laws  to  be  obeyed  "are  all  things  which  Jesus 


40  THE  MORMON  PEOBLEM. 

commands  liis  disciples  (the  priesthood)  to  teach," 
thus  destroying  all  obligation  to  recognize  codes  of 
human  origin. 

Such  a  kingdom  the  Mormon  rulers  claim  to  have. 
God  is  the  king ;  the  president  of  the  Church  is  his 
vicegerent ;  the  various  orders  in  the  priesthood  con- 
stitute his  officers :  the  laws  emanating  from  the 
same,  the  only  code  they  are  bound  to  observe ;  and 
the  people  are  the  subjects.  All  other  authority  is 
usurpation,  and  the  enforcement  of  any  other  law  is 
rebellion  against  God ;  and  to  resist  the  same,  so  far 
as  is  possible  and  safe,  becomes  one  of  the  first  re- 
ligious duties. 

But  it  is  better  to  use  the  exact  language  of  their 
own  writers.  Orson  Pratt,  another  of  the  twelve 
apostles,  and  long  recognized  as  the  ablest  of  their 
number,  published  a  work  upon  this  subject  of  civil 
government  and  the  relations  of  the  Mormon  Church 
to  earthly  governments,  entitled  "  The  Kingdom  of 
God."  In  part  i,  page  1.  we  have  the  following : 

"  The  kingdom  of  God  is  an  order  of  government 
established  by  divine  authority.  It  is  the  only  legal 
government  that  can  exist  in  any  part  of  the  universe. 
All  other  governments  are  illegal  and  unauthorized. 
Any  people  attempting  to  govern  themselves  l)ij  laws 


THE  THEOCRACY.  41 

of  their  own  making,  and  1>y  officers  of  their  own 
appointing r,  are  in  direct  rebellion  against  the  'king- 
dom of  God"  That  expresses  the  Mormon  idea.  To 
overthrow  "  rebellion  "  and  maintain  the  supremacy 
of  the  kingdom  is  the  first  duty  of  the  saints. 

If  other  authority  is  demanded  in  support  of  this 
view,  it  is  to  be  found  throughout  all  Mormon  writ- 
ings. The  "  Mormon  Journals  of  Discourses  "  contain 
the  inspired  utterances  of  the  priesthood  in  the  Tab- 
ernacle. They  were  published,  as  delivered,  in  the 
Church  organ,  the  "  Deseret  News,"  and  then  gath- 
ered and  bound  in  volumes  to  be  preserved  for  the 
edification  and  guidance  of  the  saints.  They  are  ac- 
knowledged as  of  equal  authority  with  the  Bible,  the 
44  Book  of  Mormon,"  the  "  Doctrines  and  Covenants," 
or  any  other  of  the  inspired  works.  In  vol.  vii,  p.  141, 
we  have  the  following  from  Brigham  Young  himself: 

"  Our  ecclesiastical  government  is  the  government 
of  heaven,  and  includes  all  governments  in  earth  and 
hell.  It  is  the  fountain,  the  mainspring,  the  source 
of  all  light,  power,  and  government  that  ever  did 
or  ever  will  exist.  It  circumscribes  the  governments 
of  this  world" 

"  You  may  call  that  government  ecclesiastical  or  by 
whatever  term  you  please ;  yet  there  is  no  true  gov- 


42  THE  MORMON  PROBLEM. 

ernment  on  the  earth  hut  the  government  of  God  or 
the  holy  priesthood.  .  .  .  There  is  no  other  true 
government  in  heaven  or  upon  earth."  * 

"  People  have  reason  to  fear  a  bogus  or  spurious 
theocracy.  .  .  .  The  wickedness  of  the  children  of 
men  is  what  influences  them  to  fear.  They  are  not 
afraid  of  their  own  laws,  because  they  originated  with 
themselves;  but  when  that  which  is  said  to  be  the 
kingdom  of  God,  or  the  theocracy  of  heaven,  is  upon 
the  earth,  many  of  the  inhabitants  tremble  and  fear 
that  it  is  not  correct."  f  And  then  follows  the  argu- 
ment to  show  that  theirs  is  the  true  theocracy. 

Higher  authority  cannot  be  given — volumes  could 
not  make  it  more  explicit — and  yet  there  is  scarcely 
a  Mormon  publication  that  is  not  full  of  this  doc- 
trine. It  runs  through  sermons,  addresses,  hymns, 
prayers,  newspapers,  catechisms,  and  Sunday-school 
instruction,  and  every  channel  of  public  teaching.  It 
permeates  all  their  literature,  and  is  the  constant 
theme  of  private  discourse.  We  quote  from  a  relia- 
ble " Gentile"  writer,  Mr.  J.  H.  Beadle,  who  has 
given  most  diligent  application  and  research  in  the 
matter  of  Mormon  history.  He  says :  "  It  was  de- 

*  "  Mormon  Journals  of  Discourses,"  vol.  vii,  p.  142. 
f  Ibid.,  pp.  147,  148. 


THE  THEOCRACY.  43 

dared  by  the  propliet  in  full  tabernacle,  that  the  Lord 
had  given  all  the  mountains  and  valleys  to  the  saints 
from  British  America  to  Mexico,  and  from  Kansas  to 
California,  and  the  willing  were  called  upon  a  mission 
to  go  up  and  possess  it.  ...  The  boundaries  of 

or  l 

Zion  were  finally  defined  to  be  a  strip  eight  hundred 
miles  wide  and  of  the  length  of  the  nation.  Here 
was  to  be  the  new  people  on  the  mountains,  as  seen 
in  the  vision  of  Isaiah ;  here  was  the  little  stone  cut 
without  hands,  to  grow  and  roll  forth  till  it  overturned 
all  the  kingdoms  of  the  earth ;  here  the  young  saints 
were  to  grow  up  l  free  as  gods  in  mountain  air ; '  here 
a  hardy  race,  uniting  both  the  Nephite  and  Lamanite 
(Indian)  seed  of  Israel,  was  to  multiply  with  a  rapid- 
ity unknown  to  the  barren  Gentile,  and  hot  with  zeal 
and  glowing  in  this  hope  the  young  missionaries  went 
forth  gladly,  singing  the  i  battle  hymn '  of  the  Mor- 
mon theocracy."  * 

The  scheme  has  never  been  abandoned,  and,  failing 
in  other  means,  those  relied  upon  to-day  are  immigra- 
tion and  political  conquest.  Orson  Pratt,  in  his  great 
sermon  on  "Theocracy,"  delivered  in  1859,  reaches 
some  of  his  loftiest  flights  of  eloquence  in  the  devel- 
opment of  this  great  scheme,  and  in  advocacy  of  this 

*Scribner's  Magazine,  March,  1877. 


44  THE  MORMON  PROBLEM. 

"kingdom."  Omitting  his  rhetorical  passages,  and 
his  historical  arguments,  we  present  a  few  statements 
revealing  the  theory : *  "  The  form  of  government 
given  to  man  immediately  after  the  creation  was  the- 
ocratic ;  that  is,  the  Creator  became  the  great  Law- 
giver. He  appointed  the  officers  of  that  government, 
established  his  own  authority,  and  arranged  all  things 
after  his  own  drder,  which  is  eternal.  .  .  .  Nearly 
seventeen  long  centuries  rolled  over  the  heads  of  the 
Gentile  nations  in  Asia,  Europe,  and  Africa,  and  such 
a  thing  as  the  kingdom  of  God  was  entirely  unknown 
among  them.  It  did  not  exist  either  in  a  concen- 
trated or  scattered  form.  Instead  of  a  theocratical 
"government,  or  one  of  divine  origin,  you  could  behold 
nothing  but  empires,  absolute  and  limited  monarch- 
ies, kingdoms,  principalities  and  dukedoms,  repub- 
lics and  heterogeneous  masses  of  conflicting  and  rev- 
olutionary elements  thrown  together.  .  .  .  On  this 
western  hemisphere  the  kingdom  of  God  was  estab- 
lished. ...  They  went  forth  preaching,  prophesy- 
ing, working  miracles,  receiving  revelations,  and  ad- 
ministering with  authority  divine  laws,  divine  ordi- 
nances, calling,  appointing,  and  ordering  in  every  de- 
partment of  the  kingdom ;  inspired  officers,  holding 
divine  authority  to  judge,  to  execute  laws,  to  govern 


THE  THEOCRACY.  45 

in  all  things  according  'to  the  mind  of  the  King  of 
heaven,  whom  they  saw  and  whose  voice  they  heard, 
and  whom  they  obeyed  in  all  the  affairs  of  govern- 
ment. This  was  a  theocracy  indeed — a  national  the- 
ocracy established  in  its  pure  form.  .  .  .  Govern- 
ments !  Yes,  they  have  multiplied  governments  upon 
governments.  There  are  scores  of  them  to  be  found 
in  Europe,  and  scores  to  be  found  in  Asia  and  Africa 
of  all  sorts  and  forms,  from  the  proud  monarchy  that 
crushes  the  liberty  and  hopes  of  millions  down  to  the 
petty  chieftain  who  degradedly  wanders  with  his  little 
band  of  fifty,  all  pretending  to  be  governed  by 
some  sort  of  principles.  .  .  .  The  kingdom  of  God 
could  not  be  set  up  without  calling  officers  and  inspir-. 
ing  men  and  revealing  laws,  while  this  Republic  elects 
its  own  officers  and  makes  its  own  laws.  The  Amer- 
ican Congresses  do  not  pretend  to  inspiration.  The 
Speaker,  who  occupies  the  highest  and  most  honor- 
able station  in  the  lower  House,  is  not  a  prophet.  lie 
does  not  deliver  the  word  of  the  Lord  as  law ;  neither 
does  the  honorable  President  of  the  Senate  say,  '  Thus 
saith  the  Lord ; '  but  all  the  deliberations  and  enact- 
ments of  that  illustrious  body  are  the  results  of  human 
wisdom.  They  would  not  suffer  a  prophet  of  God  to 
come  into  their  midst  and  dictate  the  laws  that  should 


4:6  THE  MORMON  PROBLEM. 

be  adopted  by  the  nation.  .  .  .  My  object  has  been 
this  morning  to  show  you  the  times  and  the  seasons 
of  establishing  a  theocracy  upon  the  earth,  and  per- 
haps to  say  something  of  its  final  triumph.  ...  I 
expect  a  literal  fulfillment  of  that  prophecy  relating 
to  the  saints  of  the  last  days  arising  like  a  small  stone 
unconnected  with  the  image  and  disunited  from  all 
forms  of  government,  both  civil  and  ecclesiastical.  I 
look  for  such  a  kingdom  to  arise  with  a  separate  form 
of  government,  and  to  continue  and  prevail  and  pro- 
gress until  the  dominion  and  the  greatness  of  the  do- 
minion under  the  whole  heavens  shall  be  given  to  the 
saints  of  the  Most  High.  I  look  for  that  to  be  ful- 
filled literally.  .  .  .  This  mountain  kingdom  could 
not  be  found  in  the  low  countries  of  America,  but  in 
some  high,  elevated  region.  There  is  no  country  that 
could  better  answer  the  terms  of  the  predicted  loca- 
tion sthan  that  elevated  region  bordering  upon  the 
great  Rocky  Mountain  chain.  A  kingdom  in  that 
high  region  might  well  be  called  a  mountain  kingdom, 
and  might  be  thus  designated  by  the  inspired  Dan- 
iel. .  .  .  Accordingly,  on  the  6th  day  of  April, 
1830,  the  latter-day  kingdom  of  God  commenced  in 
its  organization,  consisting  of  only  six  members,  in 
the  town  of  Fayette,  Seneca  County,  State  of  New 


THE  THEOCRACY.  47 

York.  "Was  this  in  reality  the  kingdom  of  God  ? 
Yes.  It  was  its  beginning,"  etc.  * 

These  statements  sufficiently  show  the  purpose  of 
Mormonism,  and  the  doctrine  of  the  hierarchy  as  to 
civil  government.  Every-where  it  is  a  "  kingdom,"  a 
"theocracy."  "The  only  legal  government  on 
earth,"  and  superior  to  all  earthly  governments. 

We  proceed  to  show  particularly  its  attitude 
toward  the  Government  of  the  United  States.  To 
do  this,  with  any  degree  of  fairness,  it  will  be  neces- 
sary to  draw  from  each  period  of  Mormon  history. 

We  begin  with  the  year  1838,  only  eight  years 
after  the  first  organization,  and  nine  years  before  the 
exodus  from  the  States  to  Salt  Lake  Valley.  At 
that  time  Thomas  B.  Marsh,  first  president  of  the 
twelve  apostles,  but  then  an  apostate,  made  an  affi- 
davit in  Eay  County,  Missouri,  from  which  the  fol- 
lowing is  taken : 

"They  have  among  them  a  company,  considered 
true  Mormons,  called  the  Danites,  who  have  taken  an 
oath  to  support  the  heads  of  the  Church  in  all  things 
that  they  say  or  do,  whether  it  be  right  or  wrong. 
.  .  .  The  plan  of  said  Smith,  the  prophet,  is  to  take 

*  "Mormon  Journals  of  Discourses,"  vol.  vii,  p.  210. 


48  THE  MORMON  PROBLEM. 

this  State ;  and  he  professes  to  his  people  to  intend 
taking  the  United  States,  and  ultimately  the  whole 
world.  This  is  the  belief  of  the  Church,  and  my 
own  opinion  of  the  prophet's  plans  and  intentions. 
The  prophet  inculcates  the  notion,  and  it  is  believed 
by  every  true  Mormon,  that  Smith's  prophecies  are 
superior  to  the  laws  of  the  land.  I  have  heard  the 
prophet  say,  that  he  would  yet  tread  down  his  ene- 
mies and  walk  over  their  dead  bodies  ;  that  if  he  was 
not  let  alone  he  would  be  a  second  Mohammed  to 
this  generation,  and  that  he  would  make  it  one  gore 
of  blood  from  the  Rocky  Mountains  to  the  Atlantic 
Ocean ;  that,  like  Mohammed,  whose  motto,  in  treat- 
ing for  peace,  was  c  the  Alcoran  or  the  sword,'  so 
should  it  be  eventually  with  us,  i  Joseph  Smith  or 
the  sword.'  These  statements  were  made  during  last 
summer.  The  number  of  armed  men  at  Adam- 
Ondi-Ahman  was  between  three  and  four  hundred." 

"THOMAS  B.  MAESH. 

"Sworn  to   and  subscribed  before    me    the  day 
herein  written.  HENRY  JACOBS, 

"  J.  P.,  Kay  Co.,  Missouri." 

This  testimony  was  corroborated  by  another  of  the 
twelve  apostles,  Orson  Hyde,  as  follows : 


THE  THEOCRACY.  49 

"  The  most  of  the  statements  in  the  foregoing  dis- 
closure I  know  to  be  true ;  the  remainder  I  believe 
to  be  true.  ORSON  HYDE. 

"  Sworn  to  and  subscribed  before  me  on  the  day 
above  written.  HENRY  JACOBS,  J.  P." 

To  these  affidavits  is  appended  a  certificate  of 
seven  persons,  a  committee  on  the  part  of  the  people 
of  Ray  County,  who  assure  the  world  that  Marsh 
was  the  president  of  the  twelve  apostles,  that  Hyde 
was  one  of  the  twelve,  that  they  had  left  the  Church 
and  abandoned  the  faith  of  the  Mormons  from  a  con- 
viction of  their  immorality  and  impiety.* 

We  have  chosen  this  statement,  not  only  because 
of  its  early  date  and  high  authority,  but  because  it 
represents  so  fully  the  sentiment  of  the  hierarchy  in 
all  the  subsequent  years.  Readers  of  Mormon  liter- 
ature will  find  in  all  that  has  appeared  from  the  suc- 
cessors of  Joseph  Smith,  whether  it  be  by  tongue  or 
pen,  the  constant  echo  of  these  words :  "  We  intend 
taking  the  whole  United  States,  and  ultimately  the 
whole  world.''  Of  course  the  intelligent  and  crafty 
leaders  of  the  Mormon  people  do  not  expect  to  real- 
ize  any  such  wild  and  absurd  dream,  but  it  is  the 

*  "  Rocky  Mountain  Saints,"  pp.  89,  90. 


50  THE  MOKMON  PROBLEM. 

means  used  to  slacken  the  bonds  of  obedience  to 
national  authority  and  law,  and  the  inspiration  used 
to  strengthen  their  ignorant  and  credulous  followers 
in  their  scheme  of  building  up  a  theocratic  kingdom 
of  their  own  in  the  mountain  country. 

This,  then,  is  the  openly  declared  purpose  of  that 
Church,  in  its  early  history,  which  so  many  writers 
and  statesmen  declare  must  receive  the  protection 
provided  in  the  constitutional  guarantees  of  religious 
liberty  to  American  citizens. 

From  the  abundant  material  at  hand  we  select 
the  following,  relating  to  the  early  history  of  the 
"  kingdom  "  in  Utah. 

Among  the  documents  on  file  in  the  State  depart- 
ment in  Washington  relating  to  the  territory  of 
Utah  are  the  reports  of  Chief-Justice  Branderburg, 
Associate-Justice  Brocchus,  and  Secretary  Harris, 
with  numerous  accompanying  papers.  These  officers 
were  appointed  by  President  Fillmore,  on  the  passage 
of  the  act  of  Congress  organizing  Utah  as  a  Terri- 
tory; but  on  arriving  at  their  post  of  duty  they 
found  such  an  extraordinary  state  of  affairs  existing, 
to  borrow  the  language  of  their  report,  u  as  to  render 
the  performance  of  our  duties  not  only  dangerous, 
but  impracticable,  and  a  longer  residence  in  the  Terri- 


THE  THEOCRACY.  51 

tory  incompatible  with  a  proper  sense  of  self-respect, 
and  the  high  regard  due  to  the  United  States." 
Associate-Justice  Brocclms  did  not  arrive  in  the  Ter- 
ritory till  August  17,  and  being  charged  by  the 
managers  of  the  Washington  Monument  Association 
to  ask  of  the  people  of  Utah  a  block  of  marble  or 
other  stone  to  place  in  that  column  as  an  offering  at 
the  shrine  of  patriotism,  he  took  the  opportunity 
presented  by  the  gathering  of  the  saints  a  few  weeks 
later,  to  address  them  on  the  subject.  We  are  told 
further : 

"  The  address  was  entirely  free  from  any  allusions, 
however  remote,  to  the  peculiar  religion  of  the  com- 
munity, or  to  any  of  their  domestic  or  social  customs. 
It  contained  not  a  single  expression  of  bravado  or 
unkindness,  or  harsh  rebuke,  or  any  sentiment  that 
could  have  been  tortured  into  a  design  on  the 
part  of  the  speaker  to  inflict  wantonly  a  wound 
upon  the  hearts  of  his  hearers.  His  remonstrances 
against  the  false  opinion  that  existed,  and  the  hostile 
feelings  resulting  from  them  were  calm  and  dispas- 
sionate, and  in  good  faith  intended  to  affect  the  salu- 
tary purpose  of  producing  peace  and  concord  be- 
tween the  various  branches  of  the  Government  and 
good- will  toward  the  United  States." 


52  THE  MORMON  PROBLEM. 

But  the  speaker  missed  his  mark.  The  audience 
were  indignant  at  this  outsider  for  presuming  to  lect- 
ure them  upon  their  duties;  and  when  Brigham 
Young  arose  to  reply  to  the  unregenerate  censor  the 
fury  of  the  people  became  so  intense  that  they  would 
have  torn  him  to  pieces  if  their  inspired  leader  had 
not  restrained  them.  He  denounced  Judge  Broc- 
chus,  in  the  tempestuous  manner  he  was  wont  to 
assume,  as  profoundly  ignorant  or  willfully  wicked. 
He  strode  the  stage  with  the  air  of  the  "  Lion  of  the 
Lord,"  declaring  himself  "  a  greater  man  than  ever 
George  Washington  was;"  that  he  knew  more  than 
George  Washington  did ;  that  he  was  the  man  that 
could  "  handle  the  sword,"  and  finished  up  with  the 
threat  that  "  if  there  is  to  be  any  more  discussion 
it  will  be  followed  by  pulling  of  hair  and  cutting 
of  throats.  I  know,"  exclaimed  he,  "that  the 
United  States  did  not  murder  our  wives  and  chil- 
dren, burn  our  houses,  and  rob  us  of  our  property ; 
but  they  stood  by,  and  saw  it  done,  and  never  opened 
their  mouths,  the  scoundrels." 

"  By  this  time,"  says  the  report,  "  the  passions  of 
the  people  were  lashed  into  a  fury  like  his  own. 
To  every  sentence  uttered  there  was  a  prompt 
and  determined  response,  showing,  beyond  a  doubt, 


THE  THEOCRACY.  53 

that  all  the  hostile  and  seditious  sentiments  we 
had  previously  heard  were  the  sentiments  of  the 
people." 

The  officers  whose  report  we  are  considering  were 
afterward  treated  in  the  same  manner.  They  tell 
us  that  visiting  the  Mormon  Church  one  Sabbath 
(Secretary  Harris  had  ceased  to  attend,  to  avoid  hear- 
ing the  Government  aspersed  and  denounced),  the 
two  judges  were  invited  to  take  their  seats  upon  the 
stand. 

"Professor"  Spencer  being  the  preacher,  could  not 
let  the  opportunity  slip  to  void  his  rheum  upon  the 
federal  officials.  Among  other  abusive  things,  he 
said: 

"  The  laws  and  policy  of  the  Government  are 
intended  to  oppress  the  poor."  And,  turning  his 
eyes  upon  his  victims,  he  further  declared  :  "  The 
Government  of  the  United  States  is  a  stench  in  the 
nostrils  of  Jehovah,  and  no  wonder  the  Latter  Day 
Saints  wish  it  down.  We  can  save  it  by  theocracy, 
but  rather  than  save  it  any  other  way,  we'll  see  it 
d—d  first!" 

Worthy  successors  of  the  "  Second  Mohammed  ! " 
But  we  "  must  not  interfere  with  a  Church  nor  with 
the  religion  of  any  people." 


54  THE  MORMON  PROBLEM. 

This  last  occasion  of  Tabernacle  worship  is  like 
that  first  attended  by  Chief -Justice  M'Kean  upon  his 
arrival  in  Utah.  He  said  that  his  presence  in  the 
Gentile  seats  was  detected  by  Elder  Carrington, 
while  delivering  an  harangue,  and  he  soon  found 
occasion  to  expound  the  Constitution.  Said  the  holy 
apostle : 

"  There  is  not  the  dotting  of  an  i  or  the  crossing 
of  a  t  in  that  instrument  which  justifies  the  presence 
of  these  federal  officials  among  us.  They  hold  office 
by  usurpation ;  their  official  acts  are  tyranny ;  and  it 
is  an  outrage  upon  American  citizens  to  be  made 
subject  to  their  misrule." 

Here  Brigham  Young  broke  in  to  inquire,  in  pip- 
ing tones :  "  Do  you  love  them,  Brother  Carrington  ?" 
"  Do  I  love  them  ? "  cried  the  indignant  orator ;  "  I 
hate  the  very  ground  the  infernal  scoundrels  stand 
upon ! " 

The  "  Journals  of  Discourses "  afford  rich  reading 
to  the  student  of  Mormonism.  "When  the  saints  were 
a  thousand  miles  from  the  nearest  approach  to  civ- 
ilization, and  were  alone  by  themselves  and  expected 
to  remain  so,  their  rulers  were  bold  to  speak  their 
sentiments  and  declare  their  purposes.  No  need  of 
repression  of  views  or  caution  -as  to  measures  then. 


THE  THEOCRACY.  55 

They  had  gathered  in  the  mountains  and  founded 
their  kingdom.  Their  followers  were  gathering  from 
the  four  quarters  of  the  earth.  They  found  them- 
selves well-nigh  independent  of  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment, or  at  least  able  to  control  it  in  their  interests 
by  the  arts  they  had  learned  so  well  to  employ. 
Their  avarice  and  greed  of  power  and  lust — the  three 
predominating  principles  of  Mormon  ism — being  fed 
to  satiety,  no  wonder  that  they  were  confident  of  final 
success  in  their  schemes  of  empire.  So  far  from  their 
spirit  or  design  weakening,  it  waxed  stronger.  Let 
the  following,  from  Brigham  Young,  again  testify. 
The  sermon  was  preached  at  the  time  of  a  presiden- 
tial campaign  in  the  States : 

"  Each  party  wishes  to  elect  a  president  of  the 
United  States.  We  design  to  elect  Jesus  Christ  for 
our  president.  I  say,  as  the  Lord  lives  we  are 
bound  to  become  a  sovereign  State  in  the  Union,  or 
an  independent  nation  by  ourselves.  The  sound 
of  Mormonism  is  a  terror  to  the  townt,  counties, 
States,  the  pretended  republican  governments,  and 
to  all  the  world.  Why?  Because,  as  the  Lord  Al- 
mighty lives,  and  the  prophets  have  ever  written 
the  truth,  this  work  is  destined  to  revolutionize  the 
world,  and  bring  all  under  subjection  to  the  law  of 


56  THE  MOKMON  PROBLEM. 

God,  who  is  our  Lawgiver.  Jesus  Christ  will  be 
president,  and  we  are  his  officers,  and  they  will  have 
to  leave  the  ground  ! "  * 

It  was  in  keeping  with  all  this  that  their  people 
made  the  'valleys  of  the  mountains  resound  with 
such  hymns  as  this: 

"  Go !   call  on  the  great  men  of  fame  and  of  power, 
The  king  on  his  throne,  and  the  brave  in  his  tower, 
And  inform  them  all  kingdoms  must  fall  but  the  one 
As  clear  as  the  moon  and  as  fair  as  the  sun."  f 

But  it  may  be  claimed  that  these  are  but  the 
sentiments  of  a  few  fanatical  leaders,  and  do  not 
represent  fairly  either  the  view  or  the  attitude  of 
the  Church. 

"We  pass,  then,  to  a  period  twenty  years  subsequent 
to  the  time  when  Joseph  Smith  proclaimed  himself 
as  "a  second  Mohammed,"  with  the  purpose  of 
taking,  first  Missouri,  then  the  United  States,  and 
ultimately  the  whole  world.  In  the  year  1858  Pres- 
ident Buchanan  issued  a  proclamation  from  which 
we  make  the  following  extract,  as  showing  the  de- 
velopment of  this  "  Church,"  which  must  be  so 
carefully  protected: 

*  "Journals  of  Discourses,"  vol.  iv,  pp.  38,  40,  41. 
f  "  Mormon  Hymn  Book,"  p.  274. 


THE  THEOCRACY.  57 

"  The  great  mass  of  settlers  in  Utah,  acting  under 
the  influence  of  teachers  to  whom  they  seem  to  have 
surrendered  their  judgment,  refuse  to  be  controlled 
by  any  other  authority.  They  have  been  often  ad- 
vised to  obedience,  and  those  friendly  counsels  have 
been  answered  with  defiance.  Officers  of  the  civil 
Government  have  been  driven  from  the  Territory  for 
no  offense  but  an  effort  to  do  their  sworn  duty. 
Others  have  been  prevented  from  going  there  by 
threats  of  assassination.  Judges  have  been  violently 
interrupted  in  the  performance  of  their  functions, 
and  the  records  of  the  courts  have  been  seized  and 
destroyed  or  concealed.  Many  other  acts  of  un- 
lawful violence  have  been  perpetrated,  and  the  right 
to  repeat  them  has  been  openly  claimed  by  the  lead- 
ing inhabitants,  with  at  least  the  silent  acquiescence 
of  nearly  all  the  others.  THEIR  OPPOSITION  TO  THE 
LAWFUL  GOVERNMENT  HAS  BEEN  so  VIOLENT  THAT  NO 
OFFICER  BEARING  A  COMMISSION  FROM  THE  ClIIEF 
MAGISTRATE  OF  THE  UNION  CAN  ENTER  THE  TERRI- 
TORY, OR  REMAIN  THERE,  WITH  SAFETY.  Indeed,  Slicll 

is  believed  to  be  the  condition  to  which  a  strange 
system  of  terrorism  has  brought  the  inhabitants  of 
that  region,  that  no  one  among  them  COULD  EXPRESS 

AN  OPINION  FAVORABLE  TO  THIS  GOVERNMENT,  OR  EVEN 


58  THE  MORMON  PROBLEM. 

PROPOSE    TO     OBEY    ITS    LAWS,    WITHOUT    EXPOSING     HIS 
LIFE   AND    HIS    PROPERTY    TO    PERIL." 

It  was  twelve  years  after  this  that  Brigham  Young 
said  to  an  immense  audience  in  the  Tabernacle,  the 
words  being  taken  down  at  the  time  and  reported  to 
the  author  by  Rev.  G.  M.  Pierce  : 

"  They  worried  the*  life  out  of  the  Prophet  Joseph 
at  Nauvoo,  and  finally  secured  his  murder.  They 
tried  it  on  me  there,  and  are  now  at  the  same  thing 
here.  I  have  no  wish  to  be  troubled  in  this  kind  of 
a  way.  I  give  them  fair  warning  now.  If  any  of 
these  so-called  officers  of  the  law  try  to  arrest  me  and 
bring  me  before  the  cussed  hounds  the  Government 
has  sent  out  here  to  lord  it  over  us,  I'll  send  them  to 
hell  'cross  lots,  so  help  me  God ! " 

And  again : 

"  All  these  United  States  officials  are  a  set  of  preju- 
diced scoundrels,  and  I  don't  want  any  more  of  their 
decisions  ;  they'd  better  be  careful,  or  they'll  have  to 
get  out  of  this  place — yes,  I'll  put  them  out  myself — 
send  them  home  by  a  short  cut."  * 

It  is  impossible  to  turn  to  any  period  of  Mormon 
history  when  such  utterances  did  not  abound.  They 
express  the  ever-living  and  ever-present  spirit  of  this 

*  "  Salt  Lake  Videtto,"  Jan.  12,  1868. 


THE  THEOCRACY.  59 

theocracy  toward  the  United  States  Government,  its 
officials,  and  its  laws.  Lovely  Zion  !  Fostering  trea- 
son, defying  all  national  law  and  authority,  building 
up  a  system  of  oppression,  robbery,  and  crime,  loath- 
some and  foul — "  Turkey  in  America,  the  dark  ages 
in  the  nineteenth  century  " — it  is  well  thou  didst  find 
a  home  in  this  country !  No  other  civilized  nation 
would  have  so  tolerated  the  loathsome  iniquity,  or 
produced  so  many  to  demand  that  it  be  sheltered  as  a 
Church  and  a  religion. 

But  if  these  copious  extracts,  show  the  attitude  of 
the  "  kingdom  "  toward  our  nation  during  the  past,  it 
is  still  more  important  to  observe  its  position  at  the 
present  day. 

We  go  back  only  five  years.  The  Mormon  Church 
is  assembled  in  "  Conference "  at  Salt  Lake  City. 
John  Taylor  has  succeeded  Brigham  Young  in  the 
presidency,  and  the  time  has  come  to  declare  his  sen- 
timents, as  the  head  of  the  theocracy,  concerning  the 
Federal  Government.  Accordingly  he  took  the  plat- 
form and  said : 

"The  people  of  the  rest  of  the  country  are  our 
enemies.  They  do  not  understand  us,  we  do  not  un- 
derstand them.  We  should  pray  for  them,  but  we 
must  not  yield  to  them.  They  think  we  are  foolish, 


60  THE  MORMON  PKOBLEM. 

and  we  think  they  are  foolish ;  they  think  we  are  a 
pack  of  rascals,  but  we  have  the  best  of  them,  for  we 
Jcnow  they  are  a  pack  of  rascals.  God  is  greater  than 
the  United  States,  and  when  the  Government  conflicts 
with  Heaven  we  will  be  ranged  under  the  banner  of 
Heaven  and  against  the  Government. 

"  The  United  States  says  we  cannot  marry  more 
than  one  wife  ;  God  says  different.  We  had  no  hand 
in  the  business ;  Joseph  Smith  had  no  hand  in  it ; 
Brigham  Young  had  no  hand  in  it ;  I  had  no  hand  in 
it.  It  was  all  the  work  of  God,  and  his  laws  must  be 
obeyed.  If  the  United  States  says  different  the  saints 
cannot  obey  it. 

"  "We  do  not  want  to  rebel  against  the  United  States. 
Rebellion  is  not  on  the  programme  ;  but  we  will  wor- 
ship God  according  to  the  dictates  of  our  own  con- 
science. 

"  We  want  to  be  friendly  with  the  United  States, 
if  the  Government  will  let  us  ;  but  not  one  jot  or  tit- 
tle of  our  rights  will  we  give  up  to  purchase  it. 

"  I  would  like  the  good  God  in  heaven  to  prevent 
them  from  making  laws  that  we  cannot  keep ;  but 
when  adulterers  pass  a  law  forbidding  polygamy  the 
saints  cannot  obey  it.  Polygamy  is  a  divine  institu- 
tion. It  has  been  handed  down  direct  from  God. 


THE  THEOCRACY.  61 

The  United  States  cannot  abolish  it.  No  nation  on 
earth  can  prevent  it,  nor  all  the  nations  of  the  earth 
combined. 

"  I  defy  the  United  States ;  I  will  obey  God.  These 
are  my  sentiments,  and  all  of  you  who  sympathize 
with  me  in  this  position  raise  your  right  hands." 

Instantly  every  person  in  the  hall,  save  one,  raised 
his  hand.  Mothers,  with  innocent  infants  in  their 
arms,  raised  their  little  hands,  thus  pledging  them  to 
treason.  The  prophet  called  for  the  negative,  and 
there  was  but  one  hand  raised  in  favor  of  the  law. 
The  vicegerent  of  God  smiled  on  his  fellow-saints, 
and  then  raised  his  right  hand  with  extended  fingers, 
and,  bending  over,  hissed  out  these  words  :  "  There'll 
~be  plenty  of  pitching  in  ~by  and  ly"  * 

Why  should  it  be  thought  a  thing  incredible  that 
the  saints  should  pull  down  and  dishonor  the  Ameri- 
can flag  on  the  fourth  day  of  July  of  this  present  year, 
1885  ?  Or  that  General  Howard  should  find  it  nec- 
essary to  warn  the  chief  executive  of  the  nation  that 
there  was  imminent  danger  of  a  hostile  demonstra- 
tion on  the  subsequent  twenty-fourth  day  of  that 
month  ? 

When  has  there  been  a  president,  prophet,  or  apos- 
*  Report  in  "  Salt  Lake  Tribune,"  Jan.  10,  1880. 


62  THE  MOEMON  PROBLEM. 

tie  of  that  delectable  kingdom  that  has  not  proclaimed 
a  theocracy  and  advocated  treason  ?  We  have  already 
quoted  largely  from  every  president  the  Church  has 
ever  had,  from  all  its  chief  apostles,  and  from  every 
period  of  its  development,  and  we  ask  the  reader  if 
there  appears  any  divergence  whatever  from  the  orig- 
inal idea  proclaimed  by  the  second  Mohammed  ? 
Church,  forsooth  !  Rather  let  it  be  claimed  that  the 
protection  of  the  Constitution  must  be  extended  to  a 
band  of  armed  and  plotting  conspirators  against  the 
nation !  Only  four  years  ago  Bishop  Henry  Lunt, 
of  Cedar  City,  Utah,  gave  to  a  correspondent  of  the 
"San  Francisco  Chronicle"  the  following  statement. 
"We  especially  commend  it  to  the  attention  of  the 
people : 

"  Like  a  grain  of  mustard  was  the  truth  planted  in 
Zion,  and  it  is  destined  to  spread  through  all  the 
world.  Our  Church  hns  been  organized  only  fifty 
years,  and  yet  behold  its  wealth  and  power.  This  is 
our  year  of  jubilee.  We  look  forward  with  perfect 
confidence  to  the  day  when  we  will  hold  the  reins  of 
the  United  States  Government.  That  is  our  present 
temporal  aim ;  after  that  we  expect  to  control  the 
continent. 

"Do  not  be  deceived;  we  are  looking  after  that. 


THE  TIIEOCKACY.  63 

We  do  not  care  for  these  Territorial  officials  sent  out 
to  govern  us.  They  are  nobodies  here.  We  do  not 
recognize  them.  Neither  do  we  fear  any  practical 
interference  by  Congress.  We  intend  to  have  Utah 
recognized  as  a  State.  To-day  we  hold  the  balance  of 
political  power  in  Idaho,  we  rule  Utah  absolutely,  and 
in  a  very  short  time  we  will  hold  the  balance  of  power 
in  Arizona  and  Wyoming.  A  few  months  ago 
President  Snow,  of  St.  George,  set  out  with  a  band 
of  priests  for  an  extensive  tour  through  Colorado, 
New  Mexico,  Wyoming,  Montana,  Idaho,  and  Ari- 
zona, to  proselyte.  We  also  expect  to  send  mission- 
aries to  some  parts  of  Nevada,  and  we  design  to  plant 
colonies  in  Washington  Territory. 

"  In  the  past  six  months  we  have  sent  more  than 
three  thousand  of  our  people  down  through  the 
Sevier  Valley  to  settle  in  Arizona,  and  the  movement 
still  progresses.  All  this  will  help  build  up  for  us  a 
political  power  which  will,  in  time,  compel  the  hom- 
age of  the  demagogues  of  the  country.  Our  vote  is 
solid,  and  will  always  remain  so.  It  will  be  thrown 
where  the  most  "good  will  be  accomplished  for  the 
Church.  Then  in  some  great  political  crisis,  the  two 
present  political  parties  will  bid  for  our  support. 
Utah  will  then  be  admitted  as  a  polygamous  State, 


64:  THE  MORMON  PROBLEM. 

and  tlie  other  Territories  we  have  peacefully  subju- 
gated will  be  admitted  also.  "We  will  then  hold  the 
balance  of  power,  and  will  dictate  to  the  country.  In 
time,  our  principles,  which  are  of  sacred  origin,  will 
spread  throughout  the  United  States.  We  possess 
the  ability  to  turn  the  political  scale  in  any  particular 
community  we  desire.  Our  people  are  obedient. 
When  they  are  called  by  the  Church,  they  promptly 
obey.  They  sell  their  houses,  lands,  and  stock,  and 
remove  to  any  part  of  the  country  the  Church  may 
direct  them  to.  You  can  imagine  the  results  which 
wisdom  may  bring  about,  with  the  assistance  of  a 
Church  organization  like  ours.  It  is  the  completest 
one  the  world  has  ever  seen.  We  have  another  ad- 
vantage. We  are  now  and  shall  always  be  in  favor 
of  woman  suffrage.  The  women  of  Utah  vote,  and 
they  never  desert  the  colors  of  the  Church  in  a  polit- 
ical contest.  They  vote  for  the  tried  friends  of  the 
Church,  and  what  they  do  here  they  will  do  every- 
where. Our  principles  and  our  institutions  spread." 

His  statement  as  to  the  ecclesiastical  organization 
is  interesting : 

"  First,  there  is  a  president,  and  he  has  two  coun- 
selors. Second,  there  are  twelve  apostles.  The 
president  is  one  of  them,  and  there  are  eleven  others. 


THE  THEOCRACY.  65 

Each  of  them  receives  a  salary  of  §1,500  per  annum. 
The  president  wields  an  authority  equal  to  that  of 
the  other  eleven.  Third,  there  are  seven  presidents, 
designated  as  the  presidents  of  the  seventies.  Fourth, 
come  other  seventies,  with  seven  presidents  over  each, 
and  a  president  over  each  of  the  sevens.  Fifth, 
come  the  seventies,  each  body  of  which  consists  of 
seventy  elders.  There  are  eighty  of  these  seventies 
in  Utah,  and  they  are  compelled  to  report  at  least  an- 
nually. These  constitute  the  general  authorities  of 
the  Church.  Sixth,  is  the  head  patriarch  of  the 
Church.  This  dignity  is  hereditary  when  the  candi- 
date is  worthy.  The  head  patriarch  resides  at  Salt 
Lake  City,  and  blesses  the  people  by  the  laying  on  of 
hands.  The  present  incumbent  of  that  sacred  posi- 
tion is  John  Smith,  the  nephew  of  Prophet  Joseph 
Smith.  Seventh,  there  is  a  presiding  bishop,  who 
attends  to  the  collection  of  tithes.  Eighth,  Zion  is 
divided  into  twenty-three  stakes,  each  of  which  has 
a  president.  Each  stake  is  subdivided  into  wards, 
and  each  ward  into  districts.  Each  district  has  a  quo- 
rum of  teachers,  whose  business  it  is  to  visit  each 
family  periodically,  and  look  after  the  spiritual  wel- 
fare of  its  members.  Ninth,  come  the  priests  and 

deacons.    In  the  world  the  priests  preach  and  baptize, 
5 


66  THE  MOKMON  PKOBLEM. 

but  do  not  lay  on  hands.  The  wisdom  of  man  could 
never  have  devised  a  Church  organization  like  that. 
Out  of  a  total  population  of  one  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  there  are  thiity  thousand  children  in  Utah 
under  eight  years  of  age.  "We  have  a  Sunday-school 
organization,  known  as  the  Deseret  Sunday-School 
Union,  of  which  George  Q.  Cannon  is  superintend- 
ent ;  he  is  our  delegate  to  Congress.  Then  we  have 
a  perpetual  immigration  fund,  in  charge  of  President 
Albert  Carrington.  With  this  we  assist  in  gathering 
our  converts  to  these  valleys.  All  nations  are  here 
represented." 

What  lends  additional  interest  to  the  view  of  the 
Church  here  presented  is,  the  fact  that  it  is  composed 
almost  wholly  of  foreigners.  Judge  Goodwin,  of 
Salt  Lake  City,  says  : 

"  With  the  death  of  Brigham  Young  the  American 
leadership  of  the  Mormons  ceased.  Taylor  is  an  En- 
glishman, Cannon  is  an  Englishman,  and  almost  all  the 
leaders  are  of  foreign  birth.  The  Mormon  Church  is  3 
foreign  kingdom,  hostile  in  all  its  features  to  a  repub- 
lican form  of  government ;  it  is  guided  and  controlled 
by  foreigners,  and  depends  upon  foreigners  and  the 
children  of  foreigners  for  future  expansion  and 
power.  It  is  absolutely  un-American  in  all  its  attri- 


THE  THEOCRACY.  67 

butes.  It  is  a  theocracy,  managed  by  a  plebeian  aris- 
tocracy, for  intellectually  the  whole  organization  is  of 
a  low  order."  * 

At  the  present  time  of  writing  (October,  1885)  the 
Mormon  Conference  is  in  session,  and  the  daily  press 
is  teeming  with  Associated  Press  dispatches  containing 
its  treasonable  statements.  Its  chief  officers  vie  with 
each  other  in  denouncing  the  Government  at  Wash- 
ington, in  proclaiming  their  renewed  hostility  to  the 
same,  and  in  defying  and  threatening  its  representa- 
tives among  them,  particularly  the  judges  who  are 
executing  the  law ;  and  they  are  doing  so  with  an 
amount  of  venom  and  vituperation  beyond  any  thing 
quoted  in  the  preceding  pages.  It  is  unnecessary  to 
encumber  this  chapter  with  further  utterances  of  the 
kind. 

But  it  may  be  urged  that  all  this  is  but  the  senti- 
ment of  the  "  Church,"  and  that  sentiments  do  not 
constitute  treason  in  this  country ;  that  we  cannot 
deal  summarily  with  a  Church,  no  matter  what  senti- 
ments it  may  hold  or  teach.  True.  But  it  is  not  de- 
manded that  the  "  Church  "  as  such  should  be  dealt 
with  at  all.  It  is  only  demanded  that  it  be  frustrated 
in  the  attempt  to  establish  within  our  borders  an 

*"  North  American  Review,"  March,  1881. 


68  THE  MOKMON  PROBLEM. 

avowedly  treasonable  system  of  civil  government, 
ever  hostile,  both  in  sentiment  and  in  action,  to  the 
rightful  Government,  and  that  it  be  dispossessed  of 
the  power  by  which  it  maintains  a  priestly  despotism 
over  an  entire  Territory,  to  the  exclusion,  in  a  great 
degree,  of  national  authority,  and  in  defiance  of  the 
rights  of  American  citizens.  Unhappily  for  the  de- 
fenders of  Mormonism,  it  has  not  confined  itself  to 
treasonable  theories  and  sentiments.  There  has  never 
been  an  hour  since  its  organization,  in  1830,  that  the 
"  theocracy  "  has  not  been  in  open  antagonism  to  the 
nation  or  its  laws.  The  facts  cited  by  President 
Buchanan,  in  the  proclamation  already  quoted,  consti- 
tute more  than  sentiment;  and  so  also  do  the  main  facts 
of  the  entire  history  of  the  saints.  Let  us  see  what 
is  the  record  of  this  people  "  that  must  not  be  inter- 
fered with  on  account  of  their  religion."  Mr.  Bea- 
dle, in  the  article  before  referred  to,  has  given  a  con- 
cise summary.  "We  reproduce  it  here  for  the  benefit 
of  those  sympathizers  with  a  "persecuted  Church 
that  claims  the  protection  of  the  nation."  It  is 
truthful  and  accurate  in  every  particular. 

"  Since  Joseph  Smith  translated  the  '  Golden 
Bible'  into  what  he  called  English,  the  Church  has 
been  engaged  in  no  less  than  three  regular  wars  with 


THE  THEOCRACY.  69 

States  or  with  the  nation,  and  in  minor  conflicts  al- 
most innumerable,  during  which,  and  the  forced 
marches  attendant  on  them,  more  than  a  thousand 
people  have  lost  their  lives.  ...  If  we  include 
neighboring  wars,  local  raids,  and  extraordinary  mobs, 
the  Mormons  as  a  body  have  been  in  open  conflict 
with  Government  and  with  people  no  less  than  thir- 
teen times ;  and  that  these  were  no  make-believe 
fights  may  be  judged  from  the  fact  that  in  one  mas- 
sacre in  Missouri  eighteen  Mormons  were  killed  and 
as  many  wounded  ;  while  in  another,  in  Utah,  a  hun- 
dred and  thirty-one  Gentiles  were  murdered  ! 

"  Here  is  a  suggestive  record :  the  Latter  Day 
Saints  have  settled  in  twelve  different  places  in  the 
United  States,  and  have  invariably  become  embroiled 
with  their  neighbors,  unless  the  latter  abandoned  the 
vicinity  en  masse.  In  New  York,  while  the  Church 
was  yet  confined  to  two  families,  they  kept  three 
townships  in  an  uproar  with  quarrels  and  lawsuits, 
and  sixty  neighbors  of  the  prophet  united  in  a  depo- 
sition that  they  would  not  believe  him  or  any  of  his 
party  on  oath.  The  second  settlement  was  ia  Ohio, 
where  the  Church  had  thirty  lawsuits  with  one  man, 
and  issued  $40,000  in  .paper  money,  which  was  never 
redeemed  ;  and,  after  a  general  free  fight,  the  leading 


70  THE  MORMON  PROBLEM. 

men  fled  to  Missouri,  pursued  two  hundred  miles  by 
the  sheriff. 

"In  their  first  settlement  in  Missouri — Jackson 
County — they  came  into  conflict  with  the  older  set- 
tlers and  were  driven  out  after  several  had  been 
killed  on  both  sides.  In  Clay  County  they  abode 
one  year,  when  the  inhabitants  unanimously  '  re- 
quested ?  them  to  move,  and  they  did  so,  this  time 
without  a  fight.  Settling  in  the  upper  counties  they 
lived  at  peace  until  numerous  enough  to  come  into 
contact  with  their  neighbors,  when  a  .general  war 
ensued  and  they  were  driven  from  the  State  into 
Illinois.  There  they  had  three  years  of  peace,  then 
three  years  of  irregular  wrar,  ending  with  their  expul- 
sion at  the  point  of  the  bayonet.  A  faction,  under 
James  Strang,  settled  in  "Wisconsin,  had  trouble  with 
the  people,  and  located  on  Beaver  Island,  in  Lake 
Michigan.  There  they  came  into  contact  with  the  lum- 
bermen, and  Strang  was  killed  and  his  people  scat- 
tered. Another  detachment  settled  in  San  Bernardino, 
California,  and,  after  numerous  difficulties,  abandoned 
the  place  and  went  to  Salt  Lake.  Meanwhile  the 
main  body  had  settled  in  Utah,  where,  as  soon  as 
they  became  strong  enough,  they  drove  out  the  fed- 
eral judges,  and  went  to  war  with  the  United  States. 


THE  THEOCRACY.  71 

A  colony  settled  in  Carson  Valley,  Nevada,  then  a 
part  of  Utah,  about  the  time  it  was  settled  from  Cal- 
ifornia. In  two  years  open  war  broke  out ;  the  hos- 
tile armies,  under  the  facetious  title  of  '  civil  posses,' 
encamped  over  against  each  other  ten  days  without 
coming  to  battle.  This  conflict  was  finally  settled  by 
the  withdrawal  of  the  saints  from  the  country. 
Meanwhile  a  colony  sent  to  Lemhi,  Idaho,  became 
embroiled  with  their  neighbors  and  were  obliged 
to  leave ;  and  another  on  Green  River  (now  in 
"Wyoming),  after  a  battle  with  the  old  mountaineers 
there  settled  drove  the  latter  out,  and  enjoyed  pos- 
session till  Johnston's  army  came.  The  record  pre- 
sents a  uniform  course."*  Rather  active  "senti- 
ments "  are  these. 

Space  would  fail  to  record  the  subsequent  acts  of 
hostility  in  Utah ;  sometimes  threatening  a  collision 
with  armed  forces,  sometimes  seeking  to  secure 
illegal  ends  by  unwarranted  civil  processes,  and 
always  seeking  to  subvert  federal  law  and  nullify 
the  influence  of  American  institutions.  We  chal- 
lenge the  world  to  point  to  a  single  year  since  1830 
when  that  hierarchy  has  been  at  harmony  with 
national  authority  and  law,  not  merely  as  regards 

*  "Scribner's  Magazine,"  July,  1877. 


Y2  THE  MORMON  PROBLEM. 

polygamy, -but  as  regards  also  the  wholesome  re- 
straints that  are  necessary  for  the  maintenance  of 
federal  jurisdiction  in  the  Territories  and  the  indi- 
vidual rights  of  American  citizens.  Public  lands 
have  been  unlawfully  appropriated  times  without 
number.  Public  timber  has  been  defiantly  taken  in 
vast  quantities.  For  seven  years  a  reign  of  terror 
existed  in  Utah.  It  is  to-day  necessary  to  keep  an 
armed  force  within  easy  marching  distance  of  Salt 
Lake  City ;  let  that  force  be  withdrawn  with  the 
knowledge  by  the  hierarchy  that  it  would  not  be 
called  into  requisition  again,  and  there  would  very 
soon  be  terrific  strife  and  bloodshed  throughout 
Utah. 

Now  let  us  suppose  that  by  some  means  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church  had  got  control  of  the  Ter- 
ritory of  New  Mexico ;  that  every  member  of  the 
Territorial  Legislature  was  a  high  dignitary  of  the 
Church ;  that  all  local  and  municipal  government 
was  composed  of  Methodists,  to  the  exclusion  of 
all  others ;  that  it  should  create  monopolies  in 
every  branch  of  business  that  would  practically 
exclude  outsiders ;  that  it  should  defy  all  other  au- 
thority, denounce  all  national  law,  oppose  all  federal 
officers  in  the  discharge  of  their  duties,  interfere  with 


THE  THEOCRACY.  73 

the  courts  to  prevent  tlie  punishment  of  Berime,  rob 
and  oppress  the  people,  and  withal  set  up  the  mon- 
strous claim  to  be  the  only  rightful  government  on 
the  face  of  the  earth — how  many' writers  and  legisla- 
tors could  be  found  who  would  urge  in  their  defense 
the  constitutional  guarantees  of  religious  liberty  to 
American  citizens?  The  outraged  sense  of  the  nation 
would  demand  that  its  treasonable  attitude  and  prac- 
tices should  be  rebuked  and  its  unwarrantable  power 
should  be  annihilated.  And  if  the  Church  should, 
with  all  its  other  crimes,  practice  polygamy  to  a 
certain  extent,  yet  that  would  not  be  allowed  to  ab- 
sorb all  interest  and  receive  all  attention  in  the  appli- 
cation of  remedies.  But  the  unaccountable  and  in- 
credible yet  actual  fact  as  to  Utah  and  the  Mormon 
Church  to-day  is,  that  with  all  this  history  and  record 
before  the  Government  at  Washington,  it  seems  to 
be  unconscious  of  all  save  polygamy,  and  fashions  its 
legal  weapons  against  that  one  crime.  It  may  do  so 
until  doomsday,  but  until  the  absolute  power  of  the 
theocratic  despotism  that  is  behind  polygamy  is 
broken,  polygamy  will  flourish  and  the  kingdom  will 
advance. 

In  this  chapter  we  have,  we  trust,  adduced  suffi- 
cient evidence  to  fully  establish  the  proposition  made 


74  THE  MOKMON  PROBLEM. 

in  the  beginning  of  the  chapter ;  and  yet  not  a  tithe 
of  that  at  hand  has  been  used.  Before  we  proceed 
to  the  crimes  and  lawlessness  of  Mormonism  we  ask 
the  American  people,  upon  the  strength  of  that 
already  submitted,  to  brush  away  the  sophistries  that 
have  gathered  around  the  Mormon  question,  and  de- 
mand that  their  servants  at  "Washington  guarantee 
and  maintain  a  republican  form  of  government  in 
the  Territories — any  Church  under  the  heavens  to  the 
contrary  notwithstanding. 

We  may  fitly  conclude  this  brief  "setting  forth 
of  the  kingdom  "  (to  use  a  Mormon  phrase)  by  the 
Mormon  battle-hymn  of  the  theocracy  : 

"  1.  Israel,  awake  from  thy  long  silent  slumber 
Shake  off  the  fetters  that  bound  thee  so  long ; 
Chains  of  oppression  !  we'll  break  them  asunder 
And  join  with  the  ransomed  in  victory's  song  f 
Arise,  for  the  time  has  come 
Israel  must  gather  home ; 
High  on  the  mountains  the  ensign  we  see; 
Fallen  is  the  Gentile  power, 
Soon  will  his  reign  be  o'er, 
Tyrants  must  rule  no  more — 
Israel  is  free ! 

"  2.  Tremble,  ye  nations  of  Gentiles,  for  yonder 
The  hosts  of  the  despot  in  battle  array, 


THE  THEOCRACY.  To 

"With  engines  of  war  shake  the  earth  with  their  thunder, 
The  bright  sword  is  drawn,  and  the  sheath  thrown  away. 
Sound  the  alarm  of  war, 
Through  nations  near  and  far, 
Let  its  dread  tones  be  heard  o'er  land  and  sea, 
Zion  shall  dwell  in  peace, 
Israel  will  still  increase, 
Liberty  ne'er  shall  cease, 
Israel  is  free ! 

"  3.  Come  to  the  land  of  the  mountain  and  prairie, 

Gather  in  strength  to  our  home  iu  the  West; 
Free  are  her  sons  as  the  breeze  round  the  aerie, 
Birthplace  of  prophets  and  home  of  the  blest. 
Come,  let  us  haste  away, 
Here  we'll  no  longer  stay ; 
Zion,  thy  beauties  we're  yearning  to  see. 
Saints,  raise  the  heavenly  song, 
Join  with  the  ransomed  throng, 
Angels  the  notes  prolong, 
Israel  is  free !  "  * 

*  "Mormon  Hymn  Book,"  pp.  89,  90. 


76  THE  MORMON  PROBLEM. 


CHAPTER  V. 

CRIME  AND  LAWLESSNESS 

SECOND  PROPOSITION  :  The  charge  that  we  here 
make  is,  not  that  a  few  of  the  Mormon  people  have 
occasionally  been  led  to  the  commission  of  crime,  but 
that  crime  is  a  part  of  the  Mormon  system  ;  that  the 
priesthood  is  organized  for  purposes  of  lawlessness, 
in  connection  with  its  primary  scheme  of  empire  • 
that  the  right  to  commit  crimes  against  society,  and 
crimes  of  the  most  atrocious  character,  in  the  inter- 
ests of  that  scheme,  has  been  boldly  asserted  and  taught 
by  the  Mormon  leaders  j  that  murder  especially  has 
the  sanction  of  the  so-called  religion  •  that  its  prac- 
tice is  even  enjoined  as  a  religious  duty,  and,  under 
certain  circumstances,  as  the  only  way  of  saving  the 
souls  of  men  •  in  short,  that  the  Mormon  hierarchy  is 
an  organized  band  of  law-breakers. 

Let  none  turn  away  from  this  statement  with  any 
feeling  of  incredulity.  It  would  not  aid  the  cause  of 
Americanism  in  Utah  to  make  rash  and  unfounded 
charges.  We  shall  not  do  so  ;  neither  shall  the  fact, 


CBIME  AND  LAWLESSNESS.  77 

that  Mormon  ism  is  defended  and  protected  in  this 
country  on  religious  grounds,  deter  us  from  stating 
and  demonstrating  the  exact  truth  in  the  matter.  "We 
simply  ask  the  candid  attention  of  the  reader  to  the 
evidence  that  shall  appear. 

THE  EVIDENCE  :  We  cannot,  without  extending  the 
limits  of  the  chapter  beyond  what  would  be  proper, 
enter  largely  into  the  details  of  early  Mormon  his- 
tory. A  brief  summary  of  pertinent  facts  will  an- 
swer, in  support  of  which  we  may  appeal  to  every 
work  that  has  been  written  relating  to  the  rise  and 
progress  of  the  great  delusion,  and  also  to  the  local 
histories  of  those  portions  of  the  country  concerned. 

It  is  a  fact,  established  beyond  question,  that  Joseph 
Smith  himself  was,  in  his  early  life,  a  "  thoroughly 
disreputable  character."  The  author  has  conversed 
with  many  who  knew  him  well  in  the  early  days  of 
Mormonism  in  Manchester,  N.  Y.,  and  the  uniform 
testimony  is  to  the  effect  that  he  and  many  immedi- 
ately connected  with  him  were  given  to  "  sheep  steal- 
ing "  and  other  petty  crimes.  A  work  recently  pub- 
lished by  a  member  of  the  famous  "  Spalding"  fam- 
ily, and  entitled  "  New  Light  on  Mormonism,"  shows, 
beyond  any  possible  doubt  that  remained,  that  the 
manuscript  which  gave  rise  to  the  movement  was 


78  THE  MORMON  PKOBLEM. 

stolen  and  palmed  off  upon  the  world  as  of  divine 
origin.  Tims  was  Mormon  ism  conceived  in  crime 
and  born  of  fraud. 

At  the  first  place  of  gathering  in  Ohio  the  people 
in  the  vicinity  were  kept  in  a  perfect  state  of  turmoil 
by  the  depredations  of  these  newly  arisen  "  saints," 
and  it  was  here  that  the  great  scheme  of  a  bogus  bank 
and  unredeemed  paper  money,  together  with  other 
unlawful  and  fraudulent  plans,  was  concocted  and 
carried  into  effect.  The  history  of  the  saints  in  Mis- 
souri is  bat  little  else  than  a  record  of  crime.  Mur- 
der, arson,  pillage  of  the  Gentiles,  were  constant  oc- 
currences. It  was  here  that  the  "  Danite  Band,"  re- 
ferred to  in  the  previous  chapter,  was  organized. 
Thomas  B.  Marsh,  who  first  revealed  its  existence,  in 
the  same  deposition  said  :  "  On  Saturday  last,  I  am 
informed  by  the  Mormons,  they  had  a  meeting  at  Far 
West,  at  which  they  appointed  a  company  of  twelve, 
called  the  Destruction  Company,  for  the  purpose  of 
burning  and  destroying,  and  that  if  the  people  of 
Buncombe  came  to  do  mischief  they  were  to  burn 
Buncombe  ;  and  if  the  people  of  Clay  and  Kay  made 
any  movement  against  them,  this  destroying  company 
were  to  burn  Liberty  and  liichmond." 

These     "  Danites,"     "  Destruction     Companies/" 


CEIME  AND  LAWLESSNESS.  79 

"  Lord's  Avengers,"  "  Destroying  Angels,"  etc.,  enter 
into  all  Mormon  history.  Strange  officiary  of  a 
Church,  claiming  constitutional  protection  !  Here  in 
Missouri,  war,  mobbing,  rioting,  neighborhood  broils, 
etc.,  were  every-day  occurrences,  as  communism, 
forgery,  and  dishonest  dealing  had  been  common  in 
Ohio.  Mormon  writers  and  speakers  are  always  re- 
ferring to  these  days  as  the  time  of  their  persecution. 
But  why  such  persecution  of  a  Church  and  a  religion? 
The  only  reason  that  can  be  given  why  the  Mormon 
Church  was  driven  from  one  State  to  another,  and 
finally  across  the  plains  and  out  of  sight  among  the 
Rocky  Mountains  is,  that  its  crimes  and  abominations 
made  it  an  unbearable  stench  in  the  nostrils  of 
society. 

Next  we  have  its  history  in  Illinois.  Read  the 
proclamations  of  governors,  the  records  of  the  courts, 
the  published  accounts  of  the  gathering  and  conflicts 
of  armed  bodies,  the  turmoils  and  depredations  upon 
property,  and  ever  -  multiplying  troubles  with  the 
people  and  with  the  authorities,  and  then  ask :  What 
have  we  here  for  a  Church  ? 

One  of  the  most  reliable  works  relating  to  this  sub- 
ject says : 

"Hundreds  of  licentious  villains,  cut-throats,  and 


80  THE  MORMON  PROBLEM. 

robbers  made  tlieir  way  into  Nauvoo,  were  baptized 
into  the  Church,  as  a  convenient  cover  for  their 
crimes,  and  made  that  their  secret  head-quarters. 
Property  stolen  far  up  the  river,  or  east  of  the  city, 
was  run  through  and  hastily  concealed  in  the  western 
bayous,  or  hastily  disposed  of  to  innocent  purchasers, 
so  that  the  owners  generally  found  it  among  the  Mor- 
mons. The  criminals  were,  in  many  instances,  traced 
directly  to  Nauvoo ;  but,  once  within  the  charmed 
circle,  all  power  to  punish  them  was  gone.  Their  se- 
cret confederates  were  ready  to  swear  them  clear,  and 
too  often  the  cry  of  i  persecution'  was  sufficient."  * 

When  we  come  to  Mormon  history  in  Utah  we 
behold  a  scheme  of  lawlessness  more  extensive  in  its 
scope,  more  specific  and  definite  in  its  purpose,  and 
more  unrelenting  in  its  character  than  was  ever  true 
of  the  Thugs  of  India. 

The  facetious  term  of  u milking  the  Gentiles" 
expressed  the  doctrine  and  duty  of  confiscating, 
for  the  "kingdom,"  the  property  of  rebellious  sin- 
ners, and  especially  any  thing  and  every  thing  be- 
longing to  the  Government  of  the  United  States. 
"The  tithing  system"  was  but  a  grand  scheme 
by  which  the  avaricious  rulers  of  Zion  absorbed  a 

*  "  Mysteries  and  Crimes  of  Mormomsm,"  p.  G5. 


CRIME  AND  LAWLESSNESS.  81 

large  share  of  the  scanty  earnings  of  their  credulous 
followers,  and  amassed  fabulous  wealth  thereby. 
The  man  is  still  living  in  Salt  Lake  City  who  gave 
Brigham  Young  credit  at  his  store  for  the  first  pair 
of  boots  he  purchased  after  his  arrival  there ;  but 
Brigham  died  worth  many  millions.  The  following 
will  show  how  he  and  his  associates  acquired  their  im- 
mense possessions :  While  the  author  was  a  resident 
of  Salt  Lake  City,  a  lady  whom  he  knew  to  be  as 
reliable  as  any  person  living  visited  his  home,  and, 
with  tears  streaming  down  her  face,  made  the  fol- 
lowing statement :  "  My  husband  came  here  with 
$75,000  in  gold.  Brigham  Young  has  got  jt  all.  He 
has  got  my  home.  I  can  show  his  own  receipts  for 
$12,000  tithing.  I  had  some  mining  property ;  they 
are  getting  that  all  away  from  me.  I  was  reared 
in  luxury,  but  I  am  working  to-day  in  a  kitchen,  and 
my  children  cry  for  bread." 

The  author  was  also  called  upon  one  day  to  visit  a 
family  that  was  in  extreme  destitution  ;  let  him,  in 
fancy,  be  accompanied  to  that  home  by  the  reader  of 
these  pages.  As  we  enter  the  first  of  the  two  small 
rooms,  we  find  it  cold,  cheerless,  and  without  furni- 
ture save  two  beds  with  scanty  covering.  There  is 

no  ceiling  between  the  floor  and  the  rafters,  which 
6 


82  THE  MORMON  PROBLEM. 

are  covered  with. mud  roofing.  'Large  cracks  at  the 
junctions  of  the  walls  readily  admit  the  wintry  blast. 
"We  step  into  the  adjoining  room.  It,  too,  is  cheer- 
less and  desolate,  with  only  a  few  pieces  of  broken 
furniture.  In  one  corner  is  a  little  fire  struggling  to 
maintain  its  hold  upon  the  bits  of  board  and  old  shin- 
gles laid  thereon.  Around  this  is  grouped  a  com- 
pany of  cold,  shivering,  half-naked  children.  The 
mother  is  moving  about  the  room,  sad,  dejected,  and 
giving  evidence  of  abstinence  and  want.  She  has 
been  deserted  by  her  "  prince  and  saviour "  for  a 
more  youthful  and  attractive  bride.  Nevertheless, 
by  great  effort  she  is  able  to  keep  her  little  ones 
about  her.  But  now,  mark  you,  when  she  takes 
her  basket  of  eggs  to  buy  bread  for  those  hun- 
gry children,  one  tenth  must  first  go  to  that  pam- 
pered autocrat  who  styles  himself  the  "head  of  the 
holy  priesthood."  When  she  is  able  to  get  together 
a  few  pounds  of  butter  for  the  market,  that  she  may 
buy  fuel  to  warm  their  shivering  bodies,  one  tenth 
of  it  must  go  to  him  who  builds  his  hundred  thou- 
sand (Jollar  houses  for  his  multitudinous  concubines. 
When  by  her  loom  she  has  earned  a  few  dollars  in 
money,  one  tenth  of  it  must  go  to 'that  avaricious  old 
man  who  counts  his  investments  by  the  million — 


CRIME  AND  LAWLESSNESS.  83 

must  go  to  him  for  the  "  maintenance  of  the  priest- 
hood." The  merciless  grasp  of  the  priesthood  upon 
these  poor  people  leaves  no  alternative;  they  must 
yield  this  tribute  to  their  oppressors  or  be  put  under 
the  ban — which  means  to  be  unemployed,  to  starve, 
possibly  to  suffer  death. 

But  in  this  chapter  we  charge  the  Mormon  priest- 
hood with  elevating  murder  to  the  dignity  of  a  relig- 
ious duty,  and  teaching  and  practicing  the  doctrine 
of  human  "sacrifice  for  sins.  And  we  will  now  make 
good  the  charge. 

It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  Mormons  have 
never  published  a  complete  formula  of  the  faith  and 
doctrines  held  by  them.  Those  that  claim  to  be  such 
are  inharmonious  and  incomplete.  We  must  rather 
look  for  this  to  the  teachings  of  the  priesthood,  as 
found  in  their  published  sermons  and  addresses  and 
other  authorized  publications.  But  it  is  universally 
claimed  by  them  that  these  utterances  are  inspired, 
and  are  as  authoritative  in  matters  of  doctrine  as 
are  those  of  Isaiah  or  St.  Paul.  We  shall,  then,  give 
somewhat  copious  extracts  from  the  "Journals  of 
Discourses,"  as  showing  that  the  doctrine  is  not 
obscure  or  uncertain.  With  the  Mormon  people  it 
is  known  as  the  doctrine  of  "  Blood  Atonement." 


84  THE  MORMON  PROBLEM. 

We  begin  with  Brighain  Young.  In  a  sermon 
preached  in  the  Tabernacle,  February  8,  1857,  he 
used  for  a  text  one  of  the  divinest  utterances  of  our 
Lord :  "  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself." 
He  said : 

"  When  shall  we  love  our  neighbors  as  ourselves  ? 
In  the  first  place,  Jesus  said  that  no  man  hateth 
his  own  flesh.  It  is  admitted  by  all  that  every  per- 
son ]oves  himself.  Now,  if  we  do  rightly  love 
ourselves  we  want  to  be  saved  and  continue  to  exist ; 
we  want  to  go  into  the  kingdom  and  enjoy  eternity, 
and  be  troubled  no  more  with  sorrow  or  death. 
This  is  the  desire  of  every  person  who  believes  in 
God.  Now,  take  a  person  in  this  congregation  who 
has  knowledge  with  regard  to  being  saved  in  the 
kingdom  of  God  and  our  Father,  and  being  exalted 
— one  who  knows  and  understands  the  principles  of 
eternal  life,  and  sees  the  beauty  and  excellency  of 
the  eternities  before  him  compared  with  the  vain  and 
foolish  things  of  the  world — and  suppose  that  he  is 
overtaken  in  a  gross  fault,  that  he  has  committed  a 
sin  that  he  knows  will  deprive  him  of  that  exaltation 
which  he  desires,  and  that  he  cannot  attain  to  it 
without  the  shedding  of  his  blood,  and  also  knows 
that  by  having  his  blood  shed  he  will  atone  for  that 


CRIME  AND  LAWLESSNESS.  85 

sin  and  be  saved,  and  exalted  with  the  gods,  is  there 
a  man  or  won*an  in  this  house  but  would  say,  '  Shed 
my  blood  that  I  may  be  saved  and  exalted  with 
the  gods  ? J 

"  All  mankind  love  themselves ;  and  let  those  prin- 
ciples be  known  by  an  individual  and  he  would  be 
willing  to  have  his  blood  shed.  This  would  be  loving 
ourselves  even  unto  an  eternal  exaltation.  Will  you 
love  your  brothers  or  sisters  likewise  when  they  have 
a  sin  that  cannot  be  atoned  for  without  the  shedding 
of  their  blood  ?  That  is  what  Jesus  Christ  meant. 
I  could  refer  you  to  plenty  of  instances  where  men 
have  been  righteously  slam  in  order  to  atone  for 
their  sins. 

"I  have  seen  scores  and  hundreds  of  people  for 
whom  there  would  have  been  a  chance  if  their  lives 
had  been  taken  and  their  blood  spilled  on  the  ground 
as  a  smoking  incense  to  the  Almighty,  but  who  are 
now  angels  to  the  devil  until  our  elder  Brother, 
Jesus  Christ,  raises  them  up,  conquers  death,  hell, 
and  the  grave. 

"I  know  a  great  many  men  who  have  left  the 
Church  for  whom  there  is  no  chance  whatever  for 
exaltation,  but  if  their  blood  had  been  spilled  it  would 
have  been  better  for  them. 


86  THE  MORMON  PROBLEM. 

"  The  ignorance  and  wickedness  of  the  nations  for- 
bid tins  principle  being  in  full  force,  but  the  time  witt 
come  when  the  law  of  God  will  le  in  full  force. 
This  is  loving  our  neighbor  as  ourselves.  If  he  needs 
help,  help  him  ;  if  he  wants  salvation,  and  it  is  neces- 
sary to  spill  his  blood  on  the  earth  in  order  that  he 
may  be  saved,  spill  it. 

"  Any  of  you  who  understand  the  principles  of  eter- 
nity, if  you  have  sinned  a  sin  requiring  the  shedding 
of  blood  (except  the  sin  unto  death),  and  should  not 
be  satisfied  or  rest  until  your  blood  should  be  spilled, 
that  you  might  gain  that  salvation  you  desire, — that 
is  the  way  to  love  mankind.  Now,  brethren  and  sis- 
ters, will  you  live  your  religion  ?  How  many  hun- 
dreds of  times  have  I  asked  that  question  ?  Will  the 
Latter  Day  Saints  live  their  religion  ?  "  * 

Now  we  insist  that  the  people  of  this  country  shall 
not  pass  by,  as  a  little  thing,  this  kind  of  public  teach- 
ing. It  represents  that  "  religion  "  which  has  for  so 
many  years  received  constitutional  protection.  It  is 
the  doctrine  of  the  Latter  Day  Saints.  It  comes  from 
the  lips  of  him  whom  the  Mormon  people  regard  as 
being  the  vicegerent  of  the  Almighty.  It  is  not 
enough  to  say  that  such  preaching  is  not  common 

*  "Journals  of  Discourses  "  vol.  iv,  pp.  219,  220. 


CRIME  AND  LAWLESSNESS.  87 

with  them.  It  is.  We  will  give  a  sufficient  number 
of  examples  to  show  that  it  has  not  been  confined  to 
one  period  or  to  one  man.  It  is  not  enough  to  say  that 
the  doctrine  is  not  now  practiced.  It  is  at  the  pres- 
ent day  to  a  certain  extent ;  it  has  made  every  page 
of  Mormon  history  red  with  blood ;  and  if  it  is  not  so 
commonly  preached  to-day,  the  faith  of  the  "saints" 
with  reference  to  it  is  found  in  the  expression  just 
quoted  :  "  The  wickedness  and  ignorance  of  the  na- 
tions forbid  this  principle  being  in  full  force,  but  the 
time  will  come  when  the  law  of  God  wrill  be  in  full 
force." 

In  another  sermon  preached  by  Brigham  Young, 
he  says : 

"  There  are  sins  which  men  commit  for  which  they 
cannot  receive  forgiveness  in  this  world  or  in  that 
which  is  to  come  ;  and  if  they  had  their  eyes  open  to 
their  true  condition  they  >-ovld  Lv  perfectly  willing 
to  have  their  61ood  spilt  upon  the  ground,  that  the 
smoke  thereof  might  ascend  to  heaven  as  an  offering 
for  their  sins,  and  the  smoking  incense  would  atone 
for  their  sins ;  whereas,  if  such  in  not  the  case,  they 
will  stick  to  them  and  remain  with  them  in  the  spirit 
world.  I  know  when  you  heax  my  brethren  telling 
about  cutting  people  off  from  /!»<j  earth  you  consider 


88  THE  MORMON  PROBLEM. 

it  strong  doctrine ;  but  it  is  to  save  them,  not  to  de- 
stroy them. 

"  It  is  true  that  the  blood  of  the  Son  of  God  was 
shed  for  sins  through  the  fall,  and  those  committed 
by  men,  yet  man  can  commit  sins  whiclj  it  can  never 
remit.  As  it  was  in  ancient  days,  so  it  is  in  our  day : 
and  though  the  principles  are  taught  publicly  from 
this  stand,  the  people  do  not  understand  them ;  yet 
the  law  is  precisely  the  same.  There  are  sins  that 
can  be  atoned  for  by  an  offering  upon  an  altar,  as  in 
ancient  days ;  and  there  are  sins  that  the  blood  of  a 
lamb  or  of  a  calf  or  of  turtle-doves  cannot  remit,  but 
they  must  be  atoned  for  by  the  blood  of  the  man. 
That  is  the  true  reason  why  men  talk  to  you  as  they 
do  from  this  stand ;  they  understand  the  doctrine,  and 
they  throw  out  a  few  words  about  it.  You  have  been 
taught  the  doctrine,  but  you  do  not  understand  it."  * 

Again  he  shouted  to  the  people : 

"  The  time  is  coming  when  justice  will  be  laid  to 
the  line  and  righteousness  to  the  plummet ;  when  we 
shall  take  the  old  broadsword  and  ask,  '  Are  you  for 
God  ? '  and  if  you  are  not  heartily  on  the  Lord's  side 
you  will  be  hewn  down."  f 

*  Tabernacle  Sermon,  September  21,  1856, 
f  "  Journals  of  Discourses,"  vol.  iii,  p.  226. 


CRIME  AND  LAWLESSNESS.  89 

At  one  time  there  was  a  disaffection  from  the  Mor- 
mon ranks,  under  the  leadership  of  a  man  by  the  name 
of  Gladden,  and  whose  followers  were  called  "  Glad- 
den ites."  The  following  is  a  sample  of  Brigham's 
gospel  to  them  and  other  apostates : 

"  Now,  you  Gladdeuites,  do  not  court  persecution, 
or  you  will  get  more  than  you  want,  and  it  will  come 
sooner  than  you  want  it.  Keep  your  tongues  still,  lest 
sudden  destruction  come  upon  you.  I  say  rather  than 
that  the  apostate  should  flourish  here,  I  will  unsheath 
my  bowie-knife  and  conquer  or  die.  [Great  commo- 
tion in  the  congregation,  and  a  simultaneous  burst  of 
feeling  assenting  to  the  declaration.] 

"  Now,  you  nasty  apostates,  clear  out,  or  judgment 
will  be  laid  to  the  line  and  righteousness  to  the  plum- 
met. [Voices  generally,  u  Go  it,  go  it ! "]  If  you  say 
it  is  all  right,  raise  your  hands.  [All  hands  up.]  Let 
us  call  upon  the  Lord  to  assist  us  in  this  and  every 
good  work."  * 

But  at  another  time  he  put  the  whole  Mormon  the- 
ory in  a  nut-shell  when  he  shouted  to  an  immense 
audience,  and,  through  the  official  press  of  his  Church, 
to  all  the  world,  these  words :  "/  live  above  the  law, 
and  so  do  this  people  !  "  f 

*  "  Journals  of  Discourses,"  vol.  i,  p.  82.          f  Ibid.,  p.  361. 


90  THE  MORMON  PROBLEM. 

We  ask  the  attention  of  the  citizens  of  this  Re- 
public to  these  words ;  let  our  national  legislators 
ponder  them  ;  let  them  not  be  passed  over  lightly  by 
any,  for  the  whole  principle  of  Mormonism  is  there. 
Did  ever  any  leader  of  banditti,  or  of  pirates  of  the 
seas,  more  boldly  avow  the  character  of  himself,  his 
cause,  or  his  followers  ? 

During  the  so-called  "  Reformation "  in  Utah 
(covering  a  period  of  seven  years),  this  doctrine  was 
preached  almost  exclusively.  Prophets  and  apostles, 
bishops  and  elders,  went  forth  as  flaming  heralds  to 
press  home  the  great  truth.  Especially  did  one 
prophet,  who  seemed  to  be  a  sort  of  a  son  of  thunder 
among  the  rest,  distinguish  himself.  His  name  was 
Jedediah  M.  Grant,  but  he  was  familiarly  called 
"  Jeddy."  As  he  is  held  to  be  the  brightest  of  all 
their  shining  lights  during  that  period,  we  may  give 
a  few  extracts  from  his  sermons,  and  then  proceed  to 
consider  the  record  of  events  transpiring  under  the 
inspiration  of  such  a  gospel. 

During  the  time  that  this  illustrious  prophet  was 
"  counselor  "  to  Brigham,  and  the  "  third  man  in  the 
kingdom,"  he  preached  a  sermon  on  the  subject  of 
"  covenant  breakers."  He  said  :  "  Then  what  ought 
this  meek  people,  who  keep  the  commandments  of 


CRIME  AND  LAWLESSNESS.  91 

God,  to  do  unto  them  ?  i  Why,'  says  one,  '  they  ought 
to  pray  the  Lord  to  kill  them.'  I  want  to  know  if 
you  wish  the  Lord  to  come  down  and  do  all  your 
dirty  work  ?  .  .  .  When  a  man  prays  for  a  thing  he 
ought  to  be  willing  to  do  it  himself.  But  if  the 
Latter  Day  Saints  should  put  to  death  the  covenant 
breakers,  it  would  try  the  faith  of  the  very  meek, 
just,  and  pious  ones  among  them,  and  it  would  cause 
a  great  deal  of  whining  in  Israel. 

"  There  was  another  old  commandment.  The 
Lord  God  commanded  them  not  to  pity  the  person 
whom  they  killed,  but  to  execute  the  law  of  God 
upon  persons  worthy  of  death.  This  should  be  done 
by  the  entire  congregation,  showing  no  pity.  I  have 
thought  there  would  have  to  be  quite  a  revolution 
among  the  Mormons  before  such  a  commandment 
could  be  obeyed  completely  by  them.  The  Mormons 
have  a  great  deal  of  sympathy.  For  instance,  if  they 
can  get  a  man  before  the  tribunal  ad  ministering*  the 
law  of  the  land,  and  succeed  in  getting  a  rope  around 
his  neck  and  having  him  hung  up,  like  a  dead  dog,  it 
is  all  right.  But  if  the  Church  and  kingdom  of  God 
should  step  forth  to  execute  the  law  of  God,  O,  yhat 
a  burst  of  Mormon  sympathy  it  would  cause  !  I  wish 
we  were  in  a  situation  favorable  to  our  doing  that 


92  THE  MORMON  PROBLEM. 

which  is  justifiable  before  God,  without  any  contam- 
inating influence  of  Gentile  amalgamation  laws  and 
traditions ;  that  the  people  of  God  might  lay  the  ax 
at  the  root  of  the  tree,  and  every  tree  that  bringeth 
not  forth  good  fruit  might  be  hewn  down. 

"What!  do  you  believe  that  people  would  do 
right,  and  keep  the  law  of  God,  by  actually  putting 
to  death  the  transgressors?  Putting  to  death  trans- 
gressors would  exhibit  the  law  of  God,  no  matter  by 
whom  it  was  done.  That  is  my  opinion. 

"  You  talk  of  the  doings  of  different  governments 
— the  United  States',  if  you  please.  What  do  they 
do  with  traitors?  What  mode  do  they  adopt  to 
punish  traitors?  Do  traitors  to  that  Government 
forfeit  their  lives  ?  Observe,  also,  the  doings  of  other 
earthly  governments  on  this  point,  and  you  will  find 
the  same  practice  universal.  I  am  not  aware  that 
there  are  any  exceptions.  But  people  will  look  into 
books  of  theology  and  argue  that  the  people  of  God 
have  a  right  to  try  people  for  fellowship,  but  they 
have  no  right  to  try  them  for  property  or  life.  That 
makes  the  devil  laugh,  saying,  '  I  have  got  them  on  a 
hook  now;  they  can  cut  them  off  and  I  will  put 
eight  or  ten  spirits  worse  than  they  are  into  their 
tabernacles,  and  send  them  back  to  mob  them.' " 


CEIME  AND  LAWLESSNESS.  93 

On  one  occasion  he  urged  that  unow  is  the  ac- 
cepted time  and  now  is  the  day  of  salvation  "  in  these 
words :  u  I  say  that  there  are  men  and  women  here 
that  I  would  advise  to  go  to  the  president  immedi- 
ately, and  ask  him  to  appoint  a  committee  to  attend 
to  their  case ;  and  then  let  a  place  be  selected  and  let 
that  committee  shed  their  blood." 

In  another  sermon  he  said  :  "I  would  advise  some 
of  you  men  here  to  go  to  President  Young  and  confess 
your  sins,  and  ask  him  to  take  you  outside  the  city 
and  have  your  blood  shed  to  atone  for  your  sins."  * 

As  to  the  outside  world}  the  inhabitants  thereof 
were  to  receive  still  less  merciful  treatment.  It  was 
a  favorite  expression  with  Brigham  that  "  they  should 
be  cut  off,"  at  the  same  time  drawing  his  hand  sig- 
nificantly across  his  throat;  or  they  ought  to  be 
"  used  up,"  or  they  should  be  "  sent  to  bed,"  pointing 
downward  to  the  earth.  "Woe  unto  the  unhappy 
Gentiles  concerning  whom  Brigham  made  such  re- 
marks in  the  presence  of  a  member  of  the  Danite 
band.  They  were  sure  to  be  found  at  an  early  day, 
if  found  at  all,  dead  ;  "  killed  by  the  Indians,"  or  from 
other  "  accidental  causes."  For  many  years  it  was 
the  open  doctrine  of  the  saints  that  none  should  be 

*  "  Rocky  Mouutain  Saints,"  p.  294. 


94:  THE  MORMON  PROBLEM. 

allowed  to  remain  in  the  "  kingdom  of  God  "  unless 
he  became  a  subject  of  that  kingdom.  "  Does  the 
Almighty  allow  devils  to  live  in  heaven?"  cries 
Brigham ;  "  then  why  should  we  allow  the  dirty 
devils  of  the  world  and  apostates  to  dwell  in  Zion  ? 
Did  not  Moses  kill  an  Egyptian  and  put  him  under 
the  sand  ? "  said  he ;  "  and  have  not  we,  the  only 
people  of  God,  just  as  good  a  right  to  kill  a  '  Baby- 
lonian' arid  put  him  under  the  sod  if  the  interests 
of  Zion  demand  it  ?  " 

The  "Danite  Band"  was  particularly  organized  to 
prey  upon  the  "ungodly  Gentile  world."  A  brief 
account  of  the  organization  may  be  of  interest. 

A  reliable  historian,  referring  to  the  period  when 
Apostle  Marsh  made  the  affidavit  already  given  in  a 
previous  chapter,  says : 

"At  or  about  the  time  of  Marsh's  statement,  Dr. 
Avard  was  in  full  fellowship  with  Joseph  Smith. 
He  was  with  the  prophet  at  the  house  of  Adam 
Black,  the  justice  of  the  peace,  and  introduced  him 
to  that  dignitary.  He  was  subsequently  believed  by 
the  Mormons  to  be  in  the  confidence  of  the  heads 
of  the  Church.  He  organized  the  brethren  into 
companies  of  tens  and  fifties,  appointed  captains  over 
each  company,  gave  signs  and  grips  by  which  they 


CRIME  AND  LAWLESSNESS.  95 

should  know  each  other  by  day  or  by  night,  binding 
themselves  by  the  most  sacred  oaths  to  preserve  in 
secrecy  their  works  of  darkness."  *  After  a  charac- 
teristic harangue  to  the  companies  about  the  "  king- 
dom," Avard  said : 

"  My  brethren,  as  you  have  been  chosen  to  be  our 
leading  men,  our  captains,  to  rule  over  this  last  king- 
dom of  Jesus  Christ,  who  have  been  organized  after 
the  ancient  order,  I  have  called  upon  you  here  to-day 
to  teach  you  and  instruct  you  in  the  things  that 
pertain  to  your  duty,  and  to  show  you  what  your 
privileges  are  and  what  they  soon  shall  be. 

"Know  ye  not,  brethren,  that  it  will  soon  be 
your  privilege  to  take  your  respective  companies 
and  go  out  on  a  scout  on  the  borders  of  settle- 
ments, and  take  to  yourselves  spoils  of  the  ungodly 
Gentiles? 

"  For  it  is  written :  '  The  riches  of  the  Gentiles 
shall  be  consecrated  to  my  people,  the  house  of  Is- 
rael ; '  and  thus  waste  away  the  Gentiles  by  wasting 
and  plundering  them  of  their  property;  and  in  this 
way  ye  will  build  up  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  roll 
forth  the  little  stone  Daniel  saw  cut  out  of  the 
mountain  without  hands,  till  it  shall  fill  the  whole 

*  "Rocky  Mountain  Saints,"  p.  91. 


96  THE  MORMON  PROBLEM. 

earj^L.  For  this  is  the  very  way  God  destines  to 
build  up  his  kingdom  in  the  last  days. 

"  If  any  of  us  should  be  recognized,  who  can  harm 
us  ?  For  we  will  stand  by  each  other  and  defend 
each  other  in  all  things.  If  our  enemies  swear 
against  us,  we  can  swear  also.  Why  do  you  startle 
at  this,  brethren  ? 

"As  the  Lord  liveth,  I  would  swear  a  lie  to  clear 
any  of  you ;  and  if  this  would  not  do,  I  would  put 
him  or  them  under  the  sand,  as  Moses  did  the  Egyp- 
tian, and  in  this  way  we  will  consecrate  much  unto 
the  Lord  and  build  up  his  kingdom.  And  who  can 
stand  against  us  ?  And  if  any  of  us  transgress,  we 
will  deal  with  him  among  ourselves;  and  if  any  of 
this  Danite  society  reveals  any  of  these  things,  I  will 
put  him  where  the  dogs  cannot  bite  him."  * 

Thus  originated  the  famous  "Danite"  society.  Its 
name  was  derived  from  the  following  passage  of 
Scripture :  "  Dan  shall  be  a  serpent  by  the  way,  an 
adder  in  the  path,  that  biteth  the  horee  heels,  so  that 
his  rider  shall  fall  backward."  Gen.  xlix,  17.  Brig- 
ham  Young  in  one  place  makes  this  reference  to  it : 
"  If  men  come  here,  and  do  not  behave  themselves, 
they  will  not  only  find  the  Danites,  whom  they  talk 
*  "Rocky  Mountain  Saiuts,"  p.  92. 


CRIME  AND  LAWLESSNESS.  97 

so  much  about,  biting  the  horse  heels,  but  the  scoun- 
drels will  iiiid  something  biting  their  heels.  In  my 
plain  remarks  I  merely  call  things  by  their  own 
names."  * 

The  work  of  this  society  appears  in  every  period 
of  Mormon  history.  With  such  an  organization, 
backed  and  supported  by  the  inspiration  of  the  doc- 
trine just  cited,  and  by  the  absolute  power  of  an 
unscrupulous  hierarchy,  what  may  we  not  expect 
to  find  ? 

A  brief  review  of  some  of  the  fiendish  outrages 
of  this  "  Church  of  Latter  Day  Saints"  will  be  given 
in  the  next  chapter. 

*  "Deseret  News,"  vol.  vii,  p.  143. 


98  THE  MOKMON  PROBLEM. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

CRIME  AND   LAWLESSNESS— CONTINUED. 

FKOM  DOCTRINE  TO  MATTEK-OF-FACT  :  In  the  year 
1876  it  was  the  author's' privilege  to  deliver  a  lecture 
in  Salt  Lake  City,  entitled  "  Brigham  Young's  Rec- 
ord of  Blood."  He  did  not  take  the  stories  of  crime 
that  were  current  and  passed  from  mouth  to  mouth 
among  the  old  inhabitants  of  Utah ;  he  gathered  from 
reliable  histories,  from  the  records  of  courts,  the 
proclamations  of  public  officers,  the  charges  of  judges 
to  grand  juries,  and  from  the  confessions  of  criminals 
themselves ;  and  he  was  able  to  get  together  a  record 
of  over  six  hundred  murders,  committed  by  the  Mor- 
mon priesthood  or  under  its  dictation.  Of  this  truly 
appalling  record  the  "  Salt  Lake  Daily  Tribune,"  of 
January  25,  18T6,  says  : 

"  It  is,  perhaps,  the  most  severe  arraignment  of  the 
Mormon  priesthood  ever  made  in  a  public  discourse. 
His  facts  are  gathered  from  authorities  whose  credi- 
bility is  not  to  be  doubted,  and  many  of  the  assassi- 
nations he  so  hurriedly  recapitulates  are  still  matter 


GRIME  AND  LAWLESSNESS — CONTINUED.         99 

of  notoriety  in  the  localities  where  the  bloody  deeds 
were  perpetrated.  The  Mormon  scribes  and  their 
jack-Mormon  aiders  and  abettors,  of  whom  John  Cod- 
man  is  a  shining  example,  have  a  great  fondness  for 
resorting  to  figures  to  show  that  deeds  of  violence  are 
less  frequent  in  the  Latter  Day  community  than  in  any 
other  pioneer  population  of  equal  number.  Such  a 
statement  is  glaringly  untrue,  as  a  comparison  of  figures 
will  show.  It  is  estimated  that  no  less  than  six  hun- 
dred murders  have  been  committed  by  the  Mormons, 
in  nearly  every  case  at  the  instigation  of  their  priest- 
ly leaders,  during  their  occupation  of  this  Territory. 
Giving  a  mean  average  of  fifty  thousand  persons 
professing  that  faith  resident  in  Utah,  we  have  a 
murder  committed  every  year  to  every  twenty-five 
hundred  of  population.  The  same  ratio  of  crime  ex- 
tended to  the  population  of  the  United  States,  would 
give  sixteen  thousand  murders  every  year,  and  to  the 
British  isles  twelve  thousand  eight  hundred  murders 
annually.  The  records  of  crime  in  these  two  coun- 
tries show  a  minute  fraction  of  this  ratio. 

"  But  these  figures  do  not  show  the  full  enormity 
of  the  case.  In  every  country  a  certain  proportion 
of  ignorance  exists,  which  takes  revenge  upon  soci- 
ety in  an  outgrowth  of  violence  and  crime.  But  the 


100  THE  MOKMON  PROBLEM. 

efforts  of  the  Government  in  all  these  countries  are 
directed  to  dispel  this  ignorance  by  the  diffusion  of 
education,  and  repress  crime  by  punishing  criminals. 
But  in  Utah  the  shedding  of  blood  is  urged  upon  an 
ignorant  and  fanatical  people,  by  teachers  who  claim 
infallibility,  as  a  religious  duty. 

"  Federal  judges  and  other  officers  of  the  law,  who 
have  honestly  and  fearlessly  set  about  the  task  of 
bringing  known  criminals  to  justice,  have  been  par- 
alyzed with  the  discovery  that  the  whole  community 
were  in  sympathy  with  these  offenders,  and  that  no 
amount  of  evidence  would  induce  juries  to  indict  or 
convict. 

"  Such  was  Judge  Bradlaugh's  experience  when  he 
held  court  in  Provo,  as  the  speaker  showed  in  his  nar- 
rative. And  such  was  Judge  M'Kean's  experience 
when  Mr.  Baskin,  acting  as  prosecuting  attorney,  pro- 
cured indictments  for  murder  against  Brigham  Young, 
Daniel  II.  Wells,  and  other  chief  priests  and  rulers. 
Day  after  day  the  court-house  was  thronged  with 
armed  and  fanatical  ruffians,  whose  object  was,  by 
threats  and  intimidations,  to  deter  the  court  from  pro- 
ceeding with  its  duty. 

"  And  at  Beaver,  at  the  trial  of  John  D.  Lee,  the 
sympathy  of  the  populace  was  with  the  prisoner.  A 


CRIME  AND  LAWLESSNESS — CONTINUED.       101 

ewarm  of  glowering  faces  was  present  in  the  court- 
room during  the  trial,  threats  were  made  upon  the 
street  of  violence  to  the  United  States  marshal  and 
the  chief  witnesses  for  the  prosecution,  and  the  city 
of  Beaver  band  serenaded  the  red-handed  assassin  in 
his  cell. 

"  Under  such  circumstances  the  tendency  to  vio- 
lence is  constantly  on  the  increase,  and,  with  the  crazy 
notion  dinned  into  the  ears  of  an  uninquiring  com- 
munity at  every  religious  gathering  that  the  whole 
unregenerate  human  race  is  doomed  to  speedy  destruc- 
tion in  order  that  God's  chosen  people  may  attain  to 
universal  dominion,  it  is  easy  to  understand  how  a 
fanatical  sect  may  be  readily  taught  to  believe  that  the 
'  using  up '  a  few  hundred  obnoxious  individuals  is 
only  aiding  the  Lord  in  his  work,  and  that  murder 
and  spoliation  are  the  most  acceptable  offerings  that 
can  be  made  to  an  offended  Deity. 

"  The  object  of  the  preacher,  as  he  makes  known 
in  his  lecture,  is  not  so  much  to  bring  the  attention 
of  the  audience  to  the  long  catalogue  of  crime  that 
reddens  the  annals  of  Utah,  as  to  arouse  the  attention 
of  the  American  people  to  the  flagitious  character  of 
the  Mormon  priesthood,  and  the  dangerous  and  blood- 
thirsty nature  of  the  doctrines  they  inculcate.  Out- 


102  THE  MOKMON  PROBLEM. 

side  of  Utah  it  is  popularly  supposed  that  the  filthy 
practice  of  polygamy  is  our  only  social  bane,  whereas 
the  truth  is,  that  serious  and  debasing  as  are  the  ef- 
fects of  this  twin  relic  of  barbarism,  this  is  the  least 
of  our  evils.  So  foul  a  crime  could  never  be  toler- 
ated by  any  people  possessed  of  a  healthy  and  correct 
sentiment ;  but  as  this  is  only  a  symptom  of  the  re- 
ligio-moral  disease  which  affects  '  this  people,'  that 
would  die  with  the  restoration  of  health  to  the  body 
politic." 

The  author  may  be  pardoned  for  presenting  at  such 
length  an  article  containing  personal  allusions  ;  but  it 
is  also  a  calm  and  dispassionate  review  of  an  appalling 
page  of  history,  written  at  the  time  when,  and  among 
the  people  where,  the  record  of  crime  had  been  pre- 
sented and  sustained,  and  where  the  most  searching 
scrutiny  of  all  the  facts  and  evidences  relating  thereto 
had  been  challenged. 

Suppose  as  much  could  be  truthfully  written  of 
any  religious  denomination  in  any  of  the  States,  how 
long  would  that  denomination  receive  the  protection 
due  to  religious  liberty  as  guaranteed  in  the  Consti- 
tution of  the  United  States  ?  We  shall  now  give  a 
few  of  these  instances  of  religious  murder. 

The  first  to  be  mentioned  is,  of  course,  that  most 


CHIME  AND  LAWLESSNESS — CONTINUED.       103 

horrid  and  damning  of  all  Mormon  crimes — the 
Mountain  Meadows  massacre.  It  is  needless  to  go 
into  the  details  of  the  affair  here.*  A  few  years 
ago,  at  the  trial  of  John  D.  Lee,  first  at  Beaver  and 
tiien  at  Salt  Lake  City,  every  fact  and  circumstance 
relating  to  it  was  given  to  the  people. 

The  heroic  defense  of  the  besieged  men ;  the  shoot- 
ing of  little  girls  dressed  in  white  who  were  sent  for 
water ;  the  treachery  by  which  they  were  all  decoyed 
from  camp ;  the  soul-sickening  scenes  of  that  terrible 
butchery ;  the  distribution  of  the  spoils  and  the  dis- 
appearance of  the  children,  were  there  narrated. 

\^liat  the  writer  now  wishes  to  do  in  relation  to  it 
is,  to  enter  his  protest  in  the  name  of  God  and  of 
humanity  against  the  manner  in  which  that  massacre 
has  been  passed  over  by  the  American  people,  for  no 
better  reason  than  that  the  crime  was  committed  by  a 
"  Church"  and  under  cover  of  religion.  There  is  no 
question  concerning  this  fact.  The  testimony  at  the 
trials  above  alluded  to,  and  all  the  facts  of  history 
relating  to  it,  leave  no  question.  John  D.  Lee  acted 
under  the  orders  of  his  superior  officer  in  the  Mormon 
militia.  No  officer  in  Utah  would  ever  dare  to  issue 
orders  in  a  matter  of  such  paramount  importance 

*  See  Appendix. 


lOi  THE  MOKMON  PKOBLEM. 

without  authority,  which  must  emanate  in  the  first 
instance  from  the  head  of  the  Church.  At  that  time 
the  subordination  and  discipline  of  all  officers  of  the 
priesthood,  ecclesiastical,  civil,  and  military,  was  com- 
plete. 'No  act  of  importance  whatever  was  per- 
formed without  due  authority.  Besides,  it  was 
seen  that  George  A.  Smith,  "  the  second  man  from 
God  and  the  first  from  Brigham,"  visited  the  towns 
along  the  route  in  advance  of  the  emigrants  ;  that  he 
called  together  and  consulted  in  secret  with  the 
Church  authorities  and  militia;  that  these  same 
Church  authorities  and  militia  went  out  immediately 
to  do  their  bloody  work,  and  at  once  reported  to 
Brigham  Young  ;  at  which  his  poor  soul  was  stirred 
to  its  depths  and  he  wept  !  When  Lee  was  first  ar- 
rested, the  populace  honored  and  cheered  and  sere- 
naded him,  and  when,  on  the  first  trial,  he  was  not 
found  guilty,  the  Mormon  people  were  wild  with 


At  the  time  of  the  trial  the  author  resided  in 
Utah  ;  and  he  had  it  from  the  very  highest  author- 
ity that  Brigham  Young,  being  anxious  to  draw 
public  attention  from  himself  and  from  the  priest- 
hood, and  to  fix  the  responsibility  of  the  crime 
upon  an  individual,  sent  word  to  the  attorney  de- 


CRIME  AND  LAWLESSNESS — CONTINUED.       105 

fending  Lee  to  convey  to  the  jury  by  some  means 
the  knowledge  that  he,  Brigham,  desired  the  convic- 
tion of  Lee.  But  the  lawyer,  caring  more  for  his 
honor  and  reputation  than  for  the  authority  of  Brig- 
ham  Young,  refused.  At  the  second  trial,  however, 
no  such  impediment  was  allowed  to  exist,  and  Lee, 
the  merest  tool. of  the  priesthood,  was  thrown  as  a 
sop  to  justice,  while  the  really  responsible  parties  to 
the  crime  went  scot-free,  and  the  American  people 
were  satisfied,  though  upward  of  one  hundred  and 
twenty  lives  had  been  taken! 

It  was  altogether  the  most  atrocious  crime  ever 
committed  in  this  country ;  and  after  the  most  thor- 
ough and  patient  study  of  all  the  facts,  and  after 
constant  communication  for  years  with  people  living 
in  the  vicinity,  the  writer  entertains  no  doubt  what- 
ever that  the  responsibility  lies  wholly  at  the  door 
of  the  three  men  constituting  at  the  time  the  "  first 
presidency "  of  the  Church.  "  But  we  must  not 
meddle  with  a  Church,  nor  with  the  religion  of  any 
people  !  " 

Bill  Hickman,  commonly  called  in  Utah  the 
<fDanite  Chief,"  in  his  Confessions  presents  a  list 
of  murders  committed  by  him  and  his  band,  at  the 
dictation  of  Brigham  Young,  that  can  scarcely  be 


106  THE  MOKMON  PKOBLEM. 

equaled  in  the  annals  of  human  atrocity.  It  is  well 
known  that  in  Utah  his  statements  are  received  as 
reliable,  and  the  most  common  remark  there  with 
reference  to  it  is — "  He  has  not  told  half  of  what  he 
might  tell ; "  indeed,  these  were  his  own  words  to  the 
Writer. 

From  hisTbook  of  "  Confessions  "  we  quote  only  a  few 
cases.  We  instance  the  bloody  murder  of  Hatch,  by 
order  of  Brigham,  who  said,  "  that  was  a  good  deed, 
let  who  would  do  it"  (p.  83);  of  "Vaughn,"  after 
whose  death  Brigham  said,  "  Take  the  property  and 
divide  it  among  yourselves;"  of  poor  Hartley,  of 
whom  Hickman  says :  "  I  saw  Orson  Hyde  looking 
very  sour  at  him,  and  after  he  had  been  in  camp  an 
hour  or  two,  Hyde  told  me  he  had  orders  to  have 
him  used  up."  He  then  mentions  in  detail  the  man- 
ner of  the  murder,  committed  under  the  eye  of 
Hyde,  and  receives  his  commendation  and  that  of 
Hosea  Stout  (p.  97). 

Mrs.  Smith,  who  wrote  the  book  entitled  "  Fifteen 
Years  Among  the  Mormons,"  and  published  fourteen 
years  before  Hickman's  "  Confession,"  gives  a  heart- 
rending account  of  this  deed  and  of  her  meeting 
with  Hartley's  widow,  whom  she  describes  as  "  the 
most  heart-broken  creature  I  ever  saw." 


.  CRIME  AND  LAWLESSNESS— CONTINUED.       107 

It  is  almost  impossible  for  one  to  read  the  accounts 
of  this  horrid  murder  without  being  moved  to  tears. 
We  may  mention  also  in  this  list  the  killing  of 
"  Yates."  Hickman  says  : 

""We  met  Joseph  A.  Young,  a  son  of  Brigham. 
He  hailed  me,  and  said  his  father  wanted  that  man 
Yates  killed."  He  thus  describes  the  killing :  "  No 
person  was  to  be  seen,  when  Col.  Jones,  Hosea  Stout, 
and  another  man,  came  to  my  camp-fire,  and  asked  if 
Yates  was  asleep.  I  told  them  he  was :  upon  which 
his  brains  were  religiously  knocked  out  with  an  ax. 
He  was  covered  up  with  his  blankets,  and  left  lying 
in  his  blood "  (p.  124).  Of  like  manner  was  the 
killing  of  "Buck,"  "M'Neal,"  "Drown,"  the  poor 
old  man  "  Arnold,"  etc.  As  one  lays  down  the  book 
of  Hickman,  he  can  but  admire  the  zeal  with  which 
certain  legislators  and  journalists  defend  the  people 
who  "will  worship  God  according  to  the  dictates  of 
their  own  conscience." 

One  of  the  most  reliable  works  on  the  history 
of  Utah  is  that  of  Mr.  Stenhouse,  entitled  "  The 
Eocky  Mountain  Saints."  In  it  may  be  found  chap- 
ter after  chapter  containing  the  most  horrifying 
accounts  of  deeds  of  violence.  We  can  cite  but  a 
few  cases. 


108  THE  MORMON  PKOBLEM. 

On  page  298  three  cases  of  mob-violence  by  ther 
priesthood  are  given.  The  details  we  do  not  care 
to  give  in  these  pages.  On  pages  469  and  470  he 
speaks  of  one  Jones  and  his  mother,  both  shot  at 
Payson  by  order  of  the  priesthood ;  of  a  wife  and 
mother  whose  throat  was  deliberately  cut  to  save  her 
soul ;  of  an  elder  shot  dead  in  his  garden,  etc.  But 
the  most  shocking  of  the  crimes  recited  by  him  was 
the  murder  of  the  Parrishes  arid  of  Potter  at  Spring- 
field. An  old  man  and  his  son  and  one  other  were 
about  to  leave  the  kingdom.  They  were  decoyed 
out  at  night  and  shot  and  butchered.  The  historian 
says:  "The  facts  of  this  deed  of  blood  clearly  exhibit 
it  as  a  religious  murder ;  the  details  are  sickening, 
and  leave  no  room  for  questioning  why  the  deed  was 
done — they  were  apostates." 

Judge  Cradlebaugh,  in  the  address  to  the  grand 
jury  at  Provo  which  investigated  this  murder,  says : 
"  The  court  has  had  occasion  to  issue  bench-warrants 
to  arrest  persons  connected  with  the  Parrish  murder, 
and  has  had  them  brought  before  it  and  examined ; 
the  testimony  represents  an  unparalleled  condition  of 
affairs.  It  seems  the  whole  community  were  engaged 
in  committing  that  crime.  Facts  go  to  show  it. 
There  seems  to  be  a  combined  effort  on  the  part  of 


CKIME  AND  LAWLESSNESS — CONTINUED.       109 

1lhe  community  to  screen  the  murderers  from   the 
punishment  they  have  deserved."  * 

This  same  historian  gives  a  detailed  account  of  the 
murder  of  one  "  Brassfield,"  •  and  says:  "that  the 
shooting  was  premeditated,  and  the  intention  known 
to  others,  there  can  be  no  doubt.  No  effort  was 
made  to  arrest  the  perpetrator  of  the  crime."  f 
Then  follows  an  account  of  the  assassination  of  Dr. 
Kobinson,  of  Salt  Lake  City.  He  had  formed  an 
intention  of  securing  the  warm  springs  north  of  the 
city,  and  founding  a  hospital.  The  property  was 
highly  prized  by  Brigham  Young,  and  hence  the 
doctor  was  decoyed  from  his  home  at  night,  and 
coolly  shot  in  the  street.  In  a  sermon  in  the  Taber- 
nacle soon  after  this  (December  23,  1860)  Brigharn 
Young  said  :  "  If  they  jump  my  claims  here  I  shall 
be  very  glad  to  give  them  a  pre-emption  right  that 
will  last  them  till  the  last  resurrection."  Gen.  Hazen 
was  sent  to  Utah  to  examine  into  the  state  of  affairs 
and  report  to  Congress.  In  his  report  he  labors  to 
befriend  the  Mormons,  but  of  the  murder- of  Robin- 
son and  Brassfield  he  says : 

"They  were  committed  under  Church  influences; 

*  "  Deseret  News,"  vol.  ix,  No.  4. 
f  "  Rocky  Mountain  Saints,"  p.  615. 


110  THE  MORMON  PROBLEM. 

there  are  principles  taught  in  that  Church  leading  to 
such  murders."  He  recommends  "the  seizure  of 
prominent  Mormon  officials  and  their  incarceration 
in  the  Missouri  penitentiary  till  this  and  other  crimes 
are  by  them  fully  divulged."  *  But  the  author 
supposes  that  Congress  still  held  to  the  determination 
"  not  to  meddle  with  a  Church,  or  with  the  religion 
of  any  people ; "  and  so  the  blood  of  those  murdered 
men  still  cries  aloud  unto  Heaven. 

Next  comes  the  long  list  of  crimes  collected  by 
Mr.  Beadle.  We  can  here  give  only  two  or  three  of 
the  cases  cited  by  him. 

The  first  is  the  murder  of  that  brave,  fearless,  and 
independent  man,  Wallace  A.  Bowman.  The  Mor- 
mon account  was,  that  it  was  done  by  the  Indians ; 
but  the  clear  testimony  of  his  companion  was,  that  it 
was  done  by  the  Danites.f  While  residing  in  Utah 
the  author  conversed  with  parties  who  were  in  pos- 
session of  all  the  facts,  and  in  the  whole  record  of  the 
crimes  of  the  priesthood  he  has  hardly  ever  found 
any  thing  more  devilish.  We  quote  the  following 
also  from  this  work  (p.  192) : 

"  Almon  K  Babbitt,  having  quarreled  with  Brig- 
ham,  started  across  the  plains  in  1845  and  was  mur- 
*  "  Yidette,"  April  8,  1867.  f  "  Life  in  Utah,"  p.  170. 


CRIME  AND  LAWLESSNESS— CONTINUED.       Ill 

dered  '  by  the  Indians,'  who  spoke  good  English ; 
and  of  this  case  Brigham  said :  4  He  lived  like  a  fool 
and  died  like  a  fool ;  he  undertook  to  quarrel  with 
me  and  soon  after  was  killed  by  the  Indians.' " 

Lo,  the  poor  Indians !  If  they  were  guilty  of  one 
hundredth  part  of  the  crimes  attributed  to  them  by 
Brigham  Young,  they  would  be  worse  fiends  than 
ever  the  most  rabid  Indian  hater  estimated  them  to 
be.  They  have  always  been  the  most  convenient 
scape-goat  for  the  Mormon  priesthood. 

Mr.  Beadle  also  says:  "In  1852  Lieutenant  M. 
Creuzfeldt,  the  botanist,  and.  eight  of  the  party, 
were  massacred  near  Sevier  Lake  by  Indians  as  then 
reported ;  but  soon  after  escaped  apostates  said  it  was 
done  by  painted  Mormons."  Then  follows  a  long 
list  of  other  crimes  which  cannot  here  be  noticed.* 

Next  we  have  the  work  of  Mrs.  Young,  entitled 
"Wife  No.  19."  We  shall  use  here  only  two  or 
three  of  the  cases  of  churchly  crimes  from  the 
many  chapters  of  the  same  that  it  contains.  Speak- 
ing of  a  cousin  that  had  married  a  Gentile  she  says 
(p.  195): 

"  My  aunt  and  her  husband  were  devout  Mormons, 
and  they  grieved  over  their  daughter  as  one  dead. 
*"Life  in  Utah,"  chap.  v. 


112  THE  MOKMON  PKOBLEM. 

"My  uncle,  the  girl's  father,  even  grew  desperate  in 
his  despair.  He  consulted  Brigham,  arid  the  proph- 
et's reply  was :  i  Put  Hatten  out  of  the  way.  It  is  a 
sin  and  shame  to  have  so  good  a  woman  dragged 
around  the  world  by  a  Gentile.'  That  was  sufficient. 
In  a  few  days  came  the  startling  news  that  Hatten 
had  been  killed  by  the  Indians.  He  had  gone  to 
Fillmore  on  a  visit,  from  which  he  was  destined  never 
to  return.  The  young  wife  was  almost  heart-broken 
at  the  sudden  loss  of  her  husband,  but  she  did  not 
dream  what  his  real  fate  was  until  long  afterward. 
She  supposed  he  had  fallen  a  victim  to  Indian  cru- 
elty, as  the  reports  told  her ;  but  when,  after  many 
years,  she  learned  the  bitter  truth,  she  fairly  hated 
the  religion  that  had  made  a  martyr  of  her  husband, 
and  brought  sorrow  and  affliction  to  her.  She  could 
not  get  away  from  it,  however;"  and  Heber  C.  Kim- 
ball  finally  got  her. 

She  says  further,  of  the  murder  of  the  Joneses  of 
Payson :  "  One  night  there  was  a  great  commotion  in 
the  streets  of  the  town ;  pistol  shots  were  heard  ;  no 
one  dared  to  venture  out  to  learn  the  cause.  In  those 
days  it  was  dangerous  to  seek  to  know  more  than  the 
priesthood  chose  to  tell.  The  next  morning  put  an 
end  to  the  suspense.  It  was  proclaimed  every-where 


CRIME  AND  LAWLESSNESS — CONTINUED.      113 

that  the  Joneses  had  been  killed,  and  their  dead 
bodies,  shockingly  mutilated,  were  placed  in  a  wagon 
and  exposed  to  the  crowd  by  being  driven  through 
the  streets,  attended  by  a  jeering,  taunting  mob,  who 
could  not  cease  their  insults  though  their  victims 
were  still  in  death.  There  were  plenty  of  women 
who  looked  at  them  and  who  gloried  in  their  death  as 
a  deed  of  service  to  the  Lord."  *  She  closes  this  ter. 
rible  chapter,  at  which  I  have  but  just  glanced,  with 
these  words :  "  As  far  as  I  am  concerned,  I  do  not 
hesitate  to  say  that  I  believe  all  these  murders  lie  at  his 
[Brigham  Young's]  door,  and  that  he  will  have  to  be 
personally  responsible  for  them.  His  hands  are  red 
with  innocent  blood,  his  garments  dyed  with  it,  and 
no  *  atonement'  can  ever  wash  out  the  damning 
spots."  f 

Parties  in  Utah  are  familiar  with  the  case  of  three 
men  at  Coalville,  who  were  shot  on  the  trumped-up 
charge  that  they  were  attempting  to  escape ;  and  of 
the  arrest  of  their  murderers  and  their  examination. 
They  were  committed  for  trial,  but  upon  arriving 
at  the  penitentiary  they  were  allowed  to  go  free, 
stating  that  "they  were  men  of  families;  that  it 
being  harvest-time,  they  were  needed  at  home; 

*  "  Wife  No.  19,"  p.  197.  \  *>M>i  P-  19°- 


114:  THE  MOKMON  PKOBLEM. 

and  if  they  were  wanted  by  his  Honor  at  any  time 
they  could  be  sent  for."  * 

The  Morrisite  massacre,  where  men,  women,  and 
children  were  shot  down  in  cold  blood,  has  become 
so  familiar  to  the  world  that  I  need  not  dwell  upon 
it.  A  little  company  had  gathered  in  the  bowery 
for  prayer.  Suddenly  the  voice  of  supplication  was 
drowned  by  the  roar  of  a  cannon,  the  projectile  from 
which  tore  away  the  lower  jaw  of  a  child  and  the 
shoulder  of  a  woman.  Then  the  carnage  began,  and 
Colonel  Burton  covered  himself  with  glory  by  this 
wanton  massacre  of  the  helpless.  But  I  will  not 
describe  it  at  length.  It  was  another  of  those  cases 
when  the  brave  "  anointed  of  the  Lord  "  drew  "  his 
bowie-knife  to  conquer  or  die." 

It  is  needless  to  continue  this  list.  The  writer  has 
data  enough  at  hand  to  fill  a  volume  with  these  horrid 
recitals.  They  are  the  fruits  of  the  monstrous  doc- 
trines heretofore  quoted ;  they  constitute  in  part  the 
arbitrary  and  unscrupulous  methods  employed  by  a 
merciless  priesthood  in  the  pursuit  of  its  plan  of  tem- 
poral dominion.  The  author  has  himself  had  a  share 
in  the  experiences  of  imperiled  Gentiles  in  Utah. 
While  a  missionary  there,  he  endeavored  to  be  peace- 
*"Vidette." 


CKIME  AND  LAWLESSNESS — CONTINUED.       115 

f  ul ;  it  was  for  the  interest  of  his  work  and  for  his 
own  interest  that  he  should  be — but  he  had  entered 
the  Territory  for  the  purpose  of  assisting  in  the  work 
of  introducing  churches,  schools,  Sunday-schools,  li- 
braries, and  the  like  ;  because  that  was  his  mission,  it 
was  sometimes  necessary  for  his  friends  to  take  tire- 
arms  and  guard  his  residence.  On  one  occasion  his 
house  was  filled  with  armed  men,  for  that  purpose, 
for  thirteen  nights  in  succession.  Four  times  he  es- 
caped attempts  at  assassination,  of  which  he  has  per- 
sonal knowledge,  and  once  was  compelled  with  his 
wife  to  face  a  Mormon  mob.  He  has  tasted,  at  least, 
the  fruits  of  the  "  latter  day  gospel." 

Before  closing  this  chapter  we  present  the  opinions 
and  statements  of  certain  public  men  who  have  been 
called  to  administer  law  and  government  in  Utah. 

The  first  is  from  the  charge,  of  Judge  Cradlebaugh 
to  the  grand  jury  at  Provo,  March,  1859.  After  re- 
ferring to  the  murder  of  the  Parrishes  and  of  Potter 
and  to  the  Mountain  Meadows  butchery,  he  says : 

"At  the  same  place  there  was  another  person  killed, 
Henry  Fobbs.  When  here  he  made  his  home  at  Par- 
tial Terry's,  where  his  horse  and  revolver  were  stolen. 
He  made  his  escape,  tried  to  get  to  Bridger,  was 
caught,  brought  back,  and  murdered,  and  that  is  the 


116  THE  MOKMON  PKOBLI;M. 

last  of  Henry  Fobbs.  No  investigation  lias  been 
made ;  liis  body  lias  been  removed  several  times,  so 
that  now,  perhaps,  it  cannot  be  found."  The  judge 
follows  with  a  list  of  other  crimes  committed  at  the 
instigation  of  the  priesthood.*  A  few  days  later, 
when  this  same  grand  jury  had  failed  to  investigate 
these  crimes,  Judge  Cradlebaugh  thus  addresses  them : 

"  I  might  call  your  attention  to  the  fact,  that  when 
,  officers  seek  to  arrest  persons  accused  of  crimes  they 
are  not  able  to  do  so ;  the  parties  are  secreted  and 
screened  by  the  community. 

"  Scarcely  had  the  officers  arrived  in  sight  of  the 
town  of  Springville,  before  a  trumpet  was  sounded 
from  the  walls  before  the  town.  This  was,  no  doubt, 
for  the  purpose  of  giving  the  alarm.  The  officers 
leave  the  town,  and  in  a  short  time  a  trumpet  sounds 
again  from  the  wall,  announcing  that  the  danger  is 
over.  "Witnesses  are  screened,  others  are  intimidated. 
An  officer  of  the  court  goes  to  Springville,  meets  the 
bishop  of  the  town,  asks  him  about  a  certain  person 
for  whom  he  has  a  writ.  He  [the  bishop]  tells  him 
he  has  gone  to  Camp  Floyd,  while  the  fact  is  the  per- 
son is  in  sight  in  the  streets.  We  have  here  a  bishop 
lying  to  prevent  criminals  being  brought  to  justice. 
*  "  Deseret  News,"  vol.  ix,  No.  2. 


CRIME  AND  LAWLESSNESS — CONTINUED.       117 

Such  conduct  goes  to  show  that  the  community  there 
do  not  desire  to  have  criminals  punished ;  it  shows 
that  the  men  before  mentioned  were  murdered  by 
counsel;  that  it  was  done  by  authority.  The  testi- 
mony goes  to  show  that  the  persons  committing  these 
murders  are  officers  in  that  community,  and  that  they 
have  been  promoted  for  committing  these  hellish 
crimes.  You  have  had  sufficient  time  to  examine 
these  cases.  More  than  two  days  ago  you  had  all  the 
testimony  before  you  in  the  Parrish  case,  and,  for  some 
cause  or  other,  you  refuse  to  do  any  thing."  * 

Ah !  Judge,  the  "  cause "  was  that  first  cause  of 
nearly  all  the  crime  and  human  wretchedness  in 
Utah,  who  sat  in  the  "  Lion  House  "  in  the  midst  of 
his  enslaved  victims,  and  called  himself  the  prophet 
of  God,  and  upon  whom  the  great  men  of  our  own 
land  so  often  waited  to  "  do  him  homage,"  as  he  said. 

Thirteen  years  later  Judge  Strickland,  in  the  same 
place,  thus  addresses  another  grand  jury.  After  enu- 
merating a  dozen  bloody  deeds  occurring  in  his  dis- 
trict, he  says : 

"  Gentlemen,  there  is  existing  in  this  Territory  a 
most  peculiar  and  startling  state  of  affairs  to  which  I 
deem  it  my  duty  to  call  your  attention.  My  neigh- 

*  "Deseret  News,"  vol.  ix,  No.  4. 


118  THE  MOEMON  PBOBLEM. 

bors,  living  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  an  assassina- 
tion, have  said  to  me,  on  my  asking  if  they  had  heard 
of  a  man  being  killed,  l  We  know  nothing  about  it ; 
no  man  gets  killed  in  this  country  who  does  not 
deserve  it;'  and,  turning  away,  went  about  their 
avocations  without  asking  who  was  killed,  or  why 
the  deed  was  committed.  Gentlemen,  the  obeying 
of  that  peculiar  injunction,  '  Do  as  you  are  told,  and 
mind  your  own  business,'  has  furnished  many  a  wild 
beast  with  a  supper  of  human  flesh.  Polygamy  is 
the  merest  nothing  compared  with  the  bloody  despot- 
ism which  forced  it  upon  and  perpetuates  it  among 
the  people — a  despotism  so  strong  that  many  persons 
are  afraid  to  make  an  examination  of  or  make  inqui- 
ries about  a  murder  committed  at  their  own  door."  * 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  trial  of  the  somewhat 
noted  Robinson  murder  case  in  Salt  Lake  City,  Gov. 
John  B.  "Weller  made  the  following  remarks : 

"  There  are  a  number  of  respectable  men  in  this 
city  who  dare  not  go  on  your  streets  of  a  night. 
Nor  are  they  men  who  are  afraid  of  shadows.  They 
have  shown  their  courage  upon  the  field  of  battle  in 
defense  of  the  honor  of  their  country,  and  would  not 
shrink  from  meeting  any  of  them  single-handed  in 

*  "  Salt  Lake  Tribune,"  Jan.  12,  1872. 


CRIME  AND  LAWLESSNESS — CONTINUED.       119 

the  light  of  day ;  but  they  do  not  choose  to  meet  an 
organized  band  of  assassins  at  midnight.  Is  it  not 
hard  that  here  in  an  American  Territory,  over  which 
Congress  has  complete  jurisdiction,  citizens  who 
have  periled  their  lives  to  sustain  the  supremacy  of 
our  laws,  are  compelled  to  remain  in  their  homes  at 
night  to  escape  the  hands  of  priestly  murderers  ?  "  * 

Let  it  be  remembered  that  these  are  not  the  words 
of  partisans,  but  the  official  utterances  of  presidents, 
governors,  judges,  and  public  men  of  the  very  high- 
est credibility.  Neither  has  there  been  a  federal 
officer  in  Utah  for  the  last  ten  years  that  has  not 
constantly  found  it  necessary  to  report,  in  one  way 
or  another,  the  same  things,  unless  we  except  the 
very  few  who  have  come  under  Mormon  influence. 

Now  take  all  the  array  of  facts.  The  inception 
and  early  history  of  Mormonism ;  its  early  depreda- 
tions and  acts  of  lawlessness ;  the  fraud  and  rapine 
and  plunder  practiced  up  to  the  time  of  the  exodus 
to  Salt  Lake  Yalley;  the  organization  and  purpose 
of  the  Danite  band ;  the  infamous  doctrines  of  blood 
atonement  and  human  sacrifice  for  sin  ;  the  unparal- 
leled record  of  blood  ;  the  official  utterances  of  public 
men  with  reference  to  the  same ;  the  inhuman  spirit 

*  Stenhouse's  "  Rocky  Mountain  Stunts." 


120  THE  MOKMON  PROBLEM. 

and  fiendish  cruelty  of  the  system  toward  apostates 
and  enemies  of  the  faith — and  what  have  we  here  for 
a  Church  f 

In  all  the  annals  of  history  can  a  blacker  or  more 
atrocious  and  appalling  record  as  to  any  band  of  law- 
breakers be  found  ? 

What  if  all  that  has  here  been  written  could  be  said 
of  the  Presbyterian  or  the  Baptist  or  the  Congrega- 
tional Churches?  The  country  would  not  tolerate 
them.  No  wasting  of  sympathy  or  pleading  of  "  con- 
stitutional guarantees "  then !  But  of  this  great 
scheme  of  treasonable  theocracy  and  of  lawlessness 
and  crime  in  the  Rocky  Mountains,  called  Mormon- 
ism,  men  are  found  writing  and  pleading  as  for  a  perse- 
cuted company  of  religionists,  or  content  themselves 
with  the  imprisonment  of  a  leader  now  and  then  for 
six  months,  or  the  payment  of  the  paltry  sum  of  three 
hundred  dollars  for  an  act  of  immorality ! 

It  is  not  enough,  we  repeat,  that  it  be  said  that 
these  crimes  are  not  as  common  to-day.  We  have 
shown  what  the  system  is,  what  its  record  is,  what  its 
purpose  is  for  the  future.  If  some  desperate  and  in- 
corrigible criminal  were  abroad,  the  perpetrator  of  a 
hundred  murders  and  the  avowed  enemy  of  society 
every-where,  it  would  not  be  enough  that  he  should 


CRIME  AND  LAWLESSNESS — CONTINUED.       121 

not  commit  a  murder  every  day  ;  it  would  at  least  be 
demanded  that  he  should  be  deprived  of  the  power 
to  do  harm  when  a  more  favorable  opportunity  should 
occur,  even  though  he  were  to  go  unpunished  for  the 
crimes  of  the  past.  The  Mormon  rulers  are  guilty  of 
more  murder  and  robbery  and  licentiousness  and  other 
crimes  than  any  other  set  of  criminals  on  earth,  and 
many  of  them  ought  to  be  hung  as  high  as  Haman,  or 
else,  in  all  decency,  we  ought  to  abolish  hanging  in 
this  country.  Away  with  all  sickly  sentiment  and 
talk  about  a  Church  and  religion !  We  appeal  to 
the  record  we  have  so  briefly  outlined. 

Let  us  suppose  that  all  the  horse-thieves  of  the 
country  should  gather  in  Arizona.  They  assume  the 
government  of  the  Territory,  make  and  administer  its 
laws  and  conduct  its  affairs,  all  in  the  interests  of 
horse-thieving.  If  they  should  shrewdly  organize  as 
a  Church,  adopt  certain  tenets,  and  practice  certain 
forms  of  worship,  then  how  many  would  urge  that 
"  the  constitutional  guarantees  of  religious  liberty  to 
American  citizens  rendered  them  secure,  and  the  mat- 
ter of  dealing  with  them  the  most  profound  problem  of 
the  age  \ "  On  this  ground,  if  a  band  of  road  agents,  in 
attacking  a  train,  should  commence  with  the  doxology, 
close  with  the  benediction,  call  it  a  prayer- meeting, 


122  THE  MOKMON  PROBLEM. 

and  assume  the  name  of  a  Church,  they  would  be 
free  from  all  legal  interference,  and  the  matter  of 
dealing  with  them  successfully  would  puzzle  the  heads 
of  our  wise  law-makers  for  half  a  century. 

Judge  Andrews,  of  the  New  York  State  Court  of 
Appeals,  in  a  letter  to  the  author,  of  recent  date,  well 


"  I  don't  think  that  vice,  under  the  guise  of  relig- 
ion, can  demand  constitutional  protection  any  more 
than  could  the  devotees  of  paganism  demand  that  its 
hideous  rites  should  be  permitted  in  this  country  un^ 
der  the  plea  that  the  Constitution  protects  freedom  of 
religious  worship."  Pre-eminently  wise  and  sound 
opinion  ;  and  yet  a  company  of  men  whose  whole  his- 
tory is  one  of  defiance  of  law,  whose  scheme  is  that  of 
priestly  empire,  among  whose  doctrine  is  that  of  kill- 
ing men  to  save  them,  and  who  have  offered  up  upon 
their  altars  hundreds  of  human  lives  in  sacrifice  for 
sin  and  in  furtherance  of  their  purpose — a  body  of 
men  whose  history  is  darker  and  more  hideous  than 
that  of  any  pagans  of  which  we  have  knowledge,  are 
left  to  their  own  ways  for  half  a  century,  or  are  only 
molested  now  and  then  by  a  trivial  prosecution  for 
"  unlawful  cohabitation." 

Away  with  all  this  nonsense  !     "We  submit  that  the 


CRIME  AND  LAWLESSNESS — CONTINUED.        123 

provisions  of  the  Constitution  as  to  religion  are  not  a 
bar  to  such  stringent  legislation  as  may  be  needful  to 
suppress  this  red-handed  gang  of  law-breakers. 

All  this  misgovern raeut  and  crime  exists  in  a  Ter- 
ritory over  which  Congress  has  complete  jurisdiction, 
and  where  neither  the  doctrine  nor  the  fact  of  State- 
rights  stands  in  the  way. 


124:  THE  MORMON  PROBLEM. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

A    NATIONAL    BROTHEL. 

THIRD  PROPOSITION  :  With  all  that  has  been  writ- 
ten on  the  subject  of  polygamy,  the  people  have  yet 
no  adequate  idea  of  what  exists  in  the  heart  of  this 
country.  No  writer  or  speaker  dare  attempt  to  por- 
tray the  worst  features  of  the  system  ;  moreover,  it 
requires  a  long  residence  in  the  locality  where  it  pre- 
vails to  know  it  thoroughly.  Some  facts  which 
prove  that  the  so-called  "Zion,"  so  far  from  being 
a  "  Church"  in  any  legitimate  sense,  is  rather  a  vast 
national  brothel,  shall  "be  fully  stated  in  this  chap- 
ter •  and  it  is  our  purpose  to  present  such  facts  as  are 
not  very  generally  known  to  the  public. 

Before  doing  so,  however,  we  beg  the  reader's  in- 
dulgence while  we  give,  for  the  benefit  of  those  who 
have  not  visited  Utah,  a  brief  view  of  the  region 
where  this  great  evil  is  located. 

Utah  derives  its  name  from  the  Indian  tribe  inhab- 
iting it,  and  signifies,  "  those  who  dwell  in  mount- 
ains." It  is  an  immense  basin,  the  rim  of  which  is 


A  NATIONAL  BBOTIIEL.  125 

composed  of  the  mountains  of  Oregon  extending  into 
Idaho  and  Montana  on  the  north;  on  the  east  and 
south  by  the  Rocky  Mountains ;  and  on  the  west  by 
the  Sierra  Nevadas.  The  basin  undoubtedly  once 
contained  a  great  inland  sea.  The  "  bench "  forma- 
tion, a  system  of  water-marks,  is  found  in  all  the  val- 
leys, while  detached  and  parallel  blocks  of  mountains, 
trending  almost  invariably  north  and  south,  were,  in 
geological  ages,  rock  islands  rising  above  the  waters. 
The  habitable  portions  of  the  Territory  are  a  series 
of  valleys  extending  from  Salt  Lake  Valley  on  the 
north,  through  the  Territory  to  Arizona.  On  the 
east  of  the  valleys  lie  the  Wasatch  Mountains,  the 
most  westerly  range  of  the  great  Rocky  Mountain 
chain,  bold,  precipitous,  and  without  timber  or  vege- 
tation, save  patches  here  and  there  of  scrubby  pines 
and  the  mountain  shrubbery  of  the  region ;  on  the 
west  the  Oquirrh  range,  which  belongs  rather  to 
the  Sierra  Nevadas. 

These  valleys  are  productive  in  the  highest  degree 
— the  soil,  when  touched  by  water,  seeming  to  cause 
every  thing  for  the  subsistence  of  man  to  spring 
forth  almost  as  if  by  magic.  We  say  when  touched 
by  water,  for,  excepting  on  the  river  bottoms,  every 
foot  of  land  must  be  cultivated  by  means  of  artificial 


126  THE  MOKMON  PJJOBLEM. 

irrigation,  and  without  this  nothing  whatever  can  be 
produced.  But  the  frequent  storms  in  the  mount- 
ains, together  with  the  melting  snows  and  the  springs 
and  streams,  furnish  an  abundant  supply,  which 
comes  pouring  down  in  creeks  and  rivers  into  the 
tributaries  of  Salt  Lake— which  lake  drains  all  that 
region  for  a  hundred  miles  in  every  direction,  and  yet 
has  no  visible  outlet. 

The  climate  is  one  of  the  most  desirable  that  can 
be  found  in  the  world.  The  winters,  in  the  valleys, 
are  very  brief  and  mild.  In  the  spring,  until  about 
the  first  of  May,  the  early  rains  occur ;  after  this  but 
very  little  rain  falls  till  the  first  of  November — an 
almost  uninterrupted  period  of  bright  sunshine  and 
blue  sky ;  and  then  scarcely  a  day  of  disagreeable 
weather  till  the  last  of  December. 

The  atmosphere,  like  the  earth,  becomes  exceed- 
ingly dry.  An  ink-bottle  left  unstopped  is  quickly 
emptied  of  its  contents ;  a  handkerchief  dipped  in 
water  and  thrown  over  a  line  is  dry  almost  instantly  ; 
and  meats  and  fish  can  be  readily  cured  in  the  sun 
without  becoming  tainted. 

The  effect  of  all  this  upon  the  atmosphere,  as  a 
medium  of  vision,  is  most  remarkable.  Objects  thirty 
miles  away  do  not  seem  to  be  more  than  six  miles 


A  NATIONAL  BROTHEL.  127 

distant,  and  those  six  miles  removed  do  not  seem  to  be 
more  than  one,  of  which  the  writer  could  give  many 
most  amusing  instances. 

In  such  an  atmosphere  the  rays  of  the  sun  fall 
'  upon  you  with  intense  heat,  and  the  earth  reflects 
them  back  again  with  almost  equal  effect ;  but  at 
evening  the  mountains  assert  their  prerogative,  and 
send  down  the  cool,  refreshing  air  thereof  to  the  re- 
lief of  those  who  dwell  in  the  valleys. 

The  natural  scenery  of  Utah  is  unexcelled.  Tour- 
ists universally  agree  that  no  mountains  upon  the 
globe  furnish  grander  or  more  beautiful  scenes  than 
the  Wasatch  range.  Some  of  the  canyons  of  this 
range  seem  to  have  been  formed  by  great  convulsions 
of  nature  tearing  the  rocks  asunder,  and  forming 
passage-ways  for  the  tidal  waves  of  civilization  into 
the  beautiful  valleys  beyond.  They  are  reproduced 
at  intervals  of  from  five  to  ten  miles  throughout  the 
entire  length  of  the  chain,  and  present  over  and  over 
again  all  the  wonders  and  glories  of  the  Yosemite. 

As  you  enter  them  you  often  look  up  perpendicu- 
lar walls  to  heights  of  six  or  eight  thousand  feet.  On 
your  right  you  may  see  the  old  castles  of  Europe 
reproduced  among  the  very  clouds — towers,  battle- 
ments, and  domes,  lightning-scarred  and  storm-worn 


128  THE  MORMON  PROBLEM. 

— the  homes  of  the  storm-kings  and  the  caverns  where 
tempests  have  birth.  On  your  left  is  a  peak  crowned 
with  eternal  snow,  and  yonder  is  one  upon  whose 
brow  the  winds  have  woven  a  misty  wreath.  Pres- 
ently a  water-fall  comes  dashing  from  a  height  of  six 
thousand  feet,  and,  losing  itself  in  misty  spray  at  the 
bottom,  appears  much  as  if  the  angels  were  pouring 
cascades  of  diamonds  down  to  earth;  while  at  the 
next  step  you  may  behold  a  festoon  of  vines  and 
mountain  flowers  swinging  in  the  breeze,  as  though 
the  fairies  had  strung  a  hammock  half-way  to  heaven. 
O,  those  grand  old  mountains !  One  can  never  weary 
in  exploring  their  wonders,  or  with  attempting  to  de- 
scribe them  when  once  he  has  beheld  them. 

As  to  the  valleys  that  nestle  among  these  mount- 
ains, it  is  not  exaggeration  to  say,  that  protected  from 
storms  as  they  are  by  the  mountains  about  them,  free 
from  malarial  or  other  unhealthful  influences,  and 
setting  like  gems  of  beauty  in  their  rugged  surround- 
ings, more  desirable  places  for  the  abode  of  man  can- 
not be  found  upon  the  globe. 

How  deplorable  is  the  fact  that  in  the  midst  of  such 
scenes,  and  in  the  very  heart  of  a  Christian  nation,  is 
located  an  institution  so  vile  that  it  might  put  to  shame 
the  condition  of  things  in  the  interior  of  Africa.  We 


A  NATIONAL  BROTHEL.  129 

proceed  to  give  some  account  of  American  polygamy, 
as  it  is  lield  and  practiced  in  this  natural  habitation 
of  wonder  and  of  beauty,  and  which  transforms  the 
same  into  a  national  brothel. 

Aside  from  the  moral  aspects  of  this  question,  and 
viewed  only  in  its  legal  aspects,  polygamy  in  Utah  is 
but  one  of  the  crimes  in  which  the  hierarchy  stands 
involved. 

When,  in  1862,  Congress  enacted  a  law  making 
polygamy  in  the  Territories  a  crime,  Brigham  Young 
responded  by  shaking  his  clenched  fist  in  the  air  and 
crying,  "  I  will  stuff  polygamy  down  the  throat  of 
Congress ; "  and  for  many  ^ears  he  did  so  in  the 
person  of  that  vilest  and  most  dangerous  of  all  the 
priesthood,  George  Q.  Cannon,  and  despite  the  efforts 
of  anti-polygamists  to  save  the  nation  from  such  a 
disgrace. 

"When,  a  few  years  ago,  the  Edmunds  bill  passed 
Congress,  Brigham  Young's  worthy  successor,  John 
Taylor,  shouted  in  words  already  quoted,  u  I  defy  the 
United  States — there  will  be  plenty  of  pitching  in  by 
and  by." 

With  the  supreme  contempt  for  "  human  law  "  and 
for  national  authority  that  has  always  characterized 

them,  they  have  to  this  hour  proclaimed  their  hostil- 
9 


130  THE  MORMON  PROBLEM. 

ity  to  courts,  judges,  officers  of  the  law,  and  all  citi- 
zens opposing  the  abomination ;  in  a  word,  polygamy 
is  a  part  of  the  system  of  Mormon  lawlessness,  and 
properly  belongs  to  their  record  of  crimes. 

That  it  is  the  foulest  social  abomination  that  ever 
cursed  the  world  or  degraded  woman  shall  now  be 
shown. 

THE  EVIDENCE  :  The  Mormon  theory  as  to  the 
Godhead  is,  that  God  the  Father  has  a  body  like  our 
own ;  that  he  is  a  polygarnist,  having  a  great  number 
of  wives ;  that  Mary,  the  mother  of  Jesus,  was  one  of 
these,  and  that  he  sent  her  to  earth  and  loaned  her  to 
Joseph  for  a  time  and^or  a  purpose;  which  purpose 
being  fulfilled,  he  took  her  back  to  himself,  and  that 
she  is  now  one  of  his  wives  again  in  the  spirit  world. 
Much  more  might  be  detailed,  but  is  passed  over  as 
not  fit  for  publication  in  these  pages,  nor  indeed  in 
any  other,  professing  even  the  slightest  degree  of  de- 
cency, much  less  of  purity  and  the  teaching  of  good 
morals. 

The  doctrine  is  presented  by  its  teachers  under  the 
sanction  of  eternal  damnation.  The  "  revelation  "  on 
"  celestial  marriage  "  says  :  "  I  reveal  unto  you  a  new 
and  an  everlasting  covenant,  and  if  ye  abide  not  that 
covenant,  then  are  ye  damned  !  " 


A  NATIONAL  BKOTHEL.  131 

In  the  sermon  last  referred  to  Mr.  Pratt  cried : 
"  It  is  either  polygamy  and  celestial  glory  on  the  one 
hand,  or  monogamy  and  eternal  damnation  on  the 
other  hand,  and  there  is  no  alternative  saith  the  Lord 
God  Almighty  I " 

He  said  that  there  was  only  one  way  of  escape  in 
the  last  day  for  a  man  who,  having  received  the  reve- 
lation, had  not  kept  it,  and  who  appeared  at  the  judg- 
ment with  but  one  wife.  He  said : 

"  If,  during  the  life  of  that  man,  he  had  gone  out 
into  all  the  earth  and  approached  every  woman  he 
could  possibly  find  and  solicited  her  hand  in  plural 
marriage,  and  all  had  refused  ;  if  then  he  had  taken 
his  wife  with  him  and  she  had  joined  her  labors 
with  his  and  they  had  both  done  their  very  utmost 
to  persuade  some  woman  to  come  to  the  rescue  and 
all  had  refused — then  that  couple  might  be  saved, 
'  yet  so  as  by  fire.' " 

The  popular  impression  that  a  Mormon  can  only 
take  as  many  wives  as  he  can  support  is  not  correct. 
In  fact,  the  Mormon  theory  is,  that  the  wives  should 
not  only  support  themselves,  but  assist  also  in  sup- 
porting their  husbands.  In  the  sermon  referred  to 
Mr.  Pratt  again  said  : 

"  The  young  ladies  in  Zion  refuse  to  marry  in  the 


132  THE  MORMON  PROBLEM. 

Church  when  solicited,  even  by  our  elders  and  bish- 
ops, because,  they  say,  they  have  now,  already,  all  the 
wives  they  can  support ;  and  they  turn  to  the  Baby- 
lonians ;  whereas  they  ought  to  say,  '  Yes,  I  can  sew, 
I  can  weave,  I  can  raise  fruit,  and  garden  produce, 
and  chickens — I  can  help  support  you,  ye  men  of 
God,  and  I  will  marry  you ; '  so  should  they  become 
queens  in  heaven  and  attain  unto  an  eternal  exalta- 
tion." 

One  feature  of  the  Mormon  doctrine  of  polygamy, 
but  little  understood  in  the  States,  is  that  denomi- 
nated "  spiritual  wifehood."  To  understand  it  fully, 
one  must  remember  that  in  the  Mormon  faith  the 
marriage  relation  is  of  a  dual  character — it  relates  to 
time  and  also  to  eternity.  To  be  married  simply  for 
time  is  one  thing.  Death  dissolves  that  relation. 
But  to  be  sealed  as  a  spiritual  wife  for  eternity  is 
quite  another  thing ;  death  does  not  dissolve  that  tie, 
and  the  parties  thus  sealed  are  to  be  husband  and 
wife  forever.  JSTow  let  it  be  supposed  that  A  and  B 
are  both  Mormons,  with  any  convenient  number  of 
wives.  Among  the  wives  of  B  is  one  that  A  desires 
to  be  his.  It  would  at  first  appear  that  her  marriage 
with  B  is  a  bar  to  any  union  with  A.  But  the  spirit- 
ual wifehood  scheme  obviates  the  difficulty.  For  it 


A  NATIONAL  BROTHEL.  133 

is  almost  universally  the  case  that  a  man's  own  wives 
are  not  sealed  to  him  as  spiritual  wives ;  they  may, 
therefore,  be  sealed  to  other  men.  So  A  proposes 
to  the  wife  of  B,  and  she  consenting,  is  sealed  to  him 
as  a  spiritual  wife  forever.  Now  this  last  union  with 
A,  it  is  claimed,  is  more  sacred  and  more  important 
than  her  marriage  with  B.  Her  union  with  B  is  of 
a  grosser  nature — that  with  A  is  spiritual  and  holy. 
Her  relation  with  B  is  for  the  brief  period  of  this 
mortal  life — her  relation  ^th  A  is  for  all  the  endless 
ages  of  God ;  therefore,  according  to  Mormon  doc- 
trine, she  is  more  the  wife  of  A,  her  spiritual  hus- 
band, than  she  is  of  B,  her  temporal  husband.  Of 
course  I  can  only  say  in  print  that  the  scheme  answers 
the  purpose  for  which  it  was  devised. 

But  when  I  say  further,  that  men  thus  marry  with 
families  all  over  the  Territory,  and  that  the  act  is 
often  reciprocal  among  them,  it  lets  a  flood  of  light 
in  upon  "  the  Church  and  religion  "  that  is  so  loud  in 
its  demand  for  constitutional  protection.  Brigham 
Young,  for  instance,  had  nineteen  wives,  but  it  will 
never  be  known  what  a  multitude  of  spiritual  wives 
he  had,  scattered  throughout  Utah.  In  fact,  this 
spiritual  wifehood  was  an  element  in  Mormonism, 
that  preceded  by  several  years  open  polygamy  itself. 


134  THE  MORMON  PROBLEM. 

It  is  in  evidence,  that  long  before  the  pretended 
revelation  on  celestial  marriage,  several  of  the  sisters 
admitted  that  they  were  the  spiritual  wives  of  Joseph 
Smith.  Spiritual  wifedom  was  the  real  parent  of 
polygamy  with  the  Mormon  leaders. 

~  A  still  darker  feature  of  this  doctrine  of  polygamy 
is  that  infernal  scheme  known  among  the  saints  as 
"  proxy  marriage."  Let  us  give  as  clear  a  statement 
of  it  as  it  may  be  proper  to  do. 

To  understand  it,  one  must  know  that  the  Mor- 
mons hold  that  there  are  a  great  number  of  gods; 
that  they  are  all  polygamists ;  that  among  them  is 
Adam,  who,  it  is  claimed,  is  the  particular  god  that 
presides  over  this  world,  simply  because  he  is  the 
father  of  the  whole  human  family.  And  they  pray 
to  and  worship  Adam. 

In  like  mariner  the  head  of  every  polygamous 
family  will  eventually  come  to  be  a  god,  with  a 
world  and  kingdom  of  his  own  to  rule,  the  extent 
and  glory  of  which  shall  be  in  proportion  to  the 
number  of  his  wives  and  children.  The  greater  the 
number  of  his  posterity,  the  more  glorious  his  celes- 
tial kingdom. 

Now,  let  it  be  supposed  again  that  A  is  a  Mormon 
with  eight  or  ten  wives  and  thirty  or  forty  children. 


A  NATIONAL  BROTHEL.  135 

One  day  a  prophet  or  an  apostle  comes  to  him  from 
John  Taylor,  and  says :  "  We  have  had  a  revelation 
from  God :  you  are  required  to  go  on  a  foreign 
mission  ;  you  will  proceed  to  Sweden  and  remain, 
making  converts  to  the  faith,  for  a  term  of  eight 
years."  That  is  the  end  of  it ;  he  must  go,  the  same 
as.  the  soldier  must  march  when  he  gets  the  word  of 
command  from  his  superior  officer.  But  he  cannot 
take  his  little  family  of  forty  or  fifty  with  him  on 
such  a  missionary  tour;  and  his  future  kingdom  must 
be  more  limited,  and  its  glory  diminished,  because 

eight  years  of  his   life  becomes  a  total  loss,  so  far 

» 

as  increasing  the  number  of  his  posterity  is  con- 
cerned. Feeling  that  under  these  and  similar  cir- 
cumstances an  eternal  injustice  would  be  done  a  man 
absent  from  his  family,  and  doing,  perhaps,  the  work 
of  the  Lord,  he  is  represented  at  home  as  a  husband 
by  proxy — by  a  "bishop,"  or  one  of  the  "twelve 
apostles,"  or  some  other  that  the  wife  might  select 
or  the  president  of  the  Church  or  of  that  "  stake  of 
Zion"  might  appoint  for  the  purpose ! 

But  this  is  not  all  of  this  proxy-marriage  business. 
Mrs.  Stenhouse,  formerly  the  wife  of  a  Mormon 
elder,  in  one  of  her  books  describes  how  this  relation- 
ship may  be  extended.  To  illustrate : 


136  THE  MORMON  PROBLEM. 

A's  father  may  have  died  with  but  one  wife.  His 
glory  would,  therefore,  be  very  limited  in  the  world 
to  come.  But  A,  as  proxy  for  his  father,  may,  as  a 
dutiful  son,  have  sealed  to  him  a  dozen  or  fifteen  or 
twenty  or  any  number  of  wives,  and  beget  children 
by  them,  and  they  shall  all,  wives  and  children,  be 
accredited  to  his  father  in  the  hereafter.  But  his 
duty  does  not  end  there.  He  must  not  be  unmindful 
of  his  grandfather,  nor  of  his  great-grandfather,  nor 
of  his  other  ancestors  as  far  back  as  he  chooses  to 
go.  He  may  take  unto  himself  wives  and  raise  up 
children  as  proxy  for  them,  ad  infinitum  !  * 

Nor  is  this  all.  One  of  A's  wives  may  have  been 
sealed  to  B,  who  afterward  died.  Now  C  may  be- 
come a  proxy  for  B,  and  raise  up  children  for  him, 
while  A  is  yet  living.  Mrs.  Stenhouse  gives  the 
following  case : 

"  It  is  well  known  in  Utah  that  two  sisters,  Mrs. 
B.  and  Mrs.  J.,  were  '  sealed  '  wives  to  Joseph 
Smith,  while  they  were  still  wives  to  Mr.  B.  and 
Mr.  J.  To  the  latter  a  son  was  born  long  after 
Mrs.  J.  was  sealed  to  Joseph,  and  since  these  two 
sisters  have  been  in  Salt  Lake  City,  the  one  has 
added  a  son  and  the  other  a  daughter  to  Joseph's 

*  "Lady's  Life  Among  the  Mormons,"  pp.  168,  170. 


A  NATIONAL  BROTHEL.  137 

family  register,  through  the  kindness  of  Brigham 
Young  and  Ileber  C.  Kimball,  who  became  proxy 
husbands  to  the  '  widows  of  the  prophet,'  and  while 
they  were  yet  the  wives  of  B.  and  J.  Subsequently 
Brigham  dismissed  Mr.  J.  from  marital  relations  with 
his  wife,  and  sent  him  to  Europe  with  the  comforting 
assurance  that  he  could  get  another  wife,  while  he 
(Brigham)  continued  as  proxy  to  her  for  Joseph."  * 

It  is  unnecessary  to  go  on  with  these  disgusting 
details.  Enough  has  been  produced  to  show  that 
those  who  fancy  that  polygamy  in  Utah  simply  means 
that  certain  men  have  more  than  one  wife,  have  a 
very  limited  knowledge  of  the  subject.  The  fact  is, 
that  what  few  restrictions  and  limitations  as  to  sexual 
intercourse  exist  in  polygamous  family  relations,  are 
completely  broken  down  by  these  modifications  of 
the  system,  and  almost  unlimited  license  receives  the 
sanction  of  divine  revelation.  Well  may  the  Mor- 
mon rulers  boast  that  there  is  an  absence  among  them 
of  that  form  of  the  "social  evil"  that  exists  in  the 
large  cities  of  the  States.  With  them  the  social  evil 
is  domesticated  and  Christianized,  and  the  "  Church  " 
becomes  what  we  have  designated  it  in  the  heading 
of  this  chapter— "A  National  Brothel." 

*  "Rocky  Mountain  Saints,"  pp.  186,  187. 


138  THE  MORMON  PROBLEM. 

The  published  sermons  upon  polygamy  and  the 
almost  numberless  essays,  discussions,  and  other  arti- 
cles in  Mormon  literature,  are  simply- presentations 
of  the  doctrine,  accompanied  with  arguments  and 
appeals.  But  the  most  fervid  imagination  cannot 
conceive  of  the  utter  vileness  and  obscenity  with 
which  the  lesser  lights  in  the  priesthood  preach  the 
same  in  the  ward  meeting-houses  and  in  private  dis- 
courses. In  the  presence  of  mixed  congregations  of 
men,  women,  and  children,  the  most  revolting  and 
disgusting  language  is  often  used,  and  is  received 
sometimes  with  laughter,  as  though  it  were  exceeding- 
ly ludicrous,  and  sometimes  with  applause,  as  though 
it  were  convincing  and  unanswerable.  The  writer 
once  saw  a  tract  composed  of  extracts  of  sermons,  by 
Brigham  Young  and  others,  that  in  the  h'lthiness  of. 
the  language  used  would  put  to  shame  the  vilest 
denizens  of  the  lowest  slums  in  New  York  city. 
Some  reporter  had  taken  down  the  words  at  the 
time,  and  secretly  published  them  as  samples  of  pul- 
pit teaching  in  the  more  remote  districts. 

Religion  is  supposed  to  constitute  the  highest  stand- 
ard of  morals  that  a  people  may  have.  And  when 
their  gospel  sanctions  such  a  system,  and  enjoins 
such  practices  as  the  way  of  life  and  salvation,  it  can 


A  NATIONAL  BROTHEL.  139 

readily  be  imagined  what  the  result  must  be  with 
such  a  population  as  has  been  gathered  around  the 
standards  of  Mormon  faith.  That  there  are  multi- 
tudes of  honest  and  sincere  people  in  the  Mormon 
Church — indeed,  that  this  is  generally  true  of  the 
rank  and  file  of  the  Church — the  author  gladly  con- 
cedes. Nevertheless,  they  are  a  credulous  and  igno- 
rant people,  or  they  wrould  not  be  there ;  they  have 
been  gathered  largely  from  the  lowest  classes  in  the 
Old  World ;  and  it  is  not  strange  that  when  their 
very  religion  is  used  as  the  most  powerful  means  of 
their  degradation,  they  should  descend  to  the  lowest 
depths.  There  prevails  in  every  community  in  Mor- 
mondom  the  utmost  laxity  in  the  tone  of  society  and 
in  the  moral  sentiment  of  the  people.  The  influence 
of  the  system  pervades  every-where,  and  permeates, 
in  a  greater  or  less  degree,  all  grades  and  classes 
among  the  faithful. 

The  writer  was  once  present  at  a  social  gathering 
in  Provo,  composed  mostly  of  Mormons,  but  with 
a  limited  number  of  Gentiles  also  present.  The  con- 
versation turning  upon  certain  religious  discourses 
that  had  been  delivered  by  a  ward  bishop,  became 
exceedingly  loose ;  whereupon  a  lady  present,  re* 
membering  that  it  might  be  offensive  to  those  not 


14:0  THE  MORMON  PROBLEM. 

accustomed  to  the  ways  of  "  Zion,"  tossed  her  head 
in  the  direction  of  the  Gentiles,  and  flippantly  ex- 
claimed : 

"  Never  mind — never  mind — this  is  Utah,  you 
know!"  As  though  that  were  sufficient  to  excuse 
any  fact  that  would  not  be  tolerated  elsewhere.  She 
but  expressed  the  ever-prevalent  feeling  among  all 
circles,  "this  is  Utah,  you  know,"  and  the  expression 
is  a  clew  to  the  unrestrained  sentiment  which  such  a 
foul  and  revolting  institution  begets. 

The  reader  will  ask,  "How  do  these  polygamous 
families  live  ? "  or,  rather,  "  What  is  the  condition 
of  family  life  with  them  ? "  That  depends  upon 
many  circumstances. 

The  visitor  to  Salt  Lake  City  does  not  see  the 
worst  phases  of  polygamous  life.  The  wealthier  and 
better  classes  are  largely  gathered  there,  and  much  of 
comfort,  and  sometimes  of  magnificence  and  luxury, 
is  to  be  found  in  the  home-life  of  these  higher  grades 
of  believers.  Occasionally  a  prominent  member  of 
the  priesthood  may  be  found  whose  wives  are  in 
different  parts  of  the  Territory.  Brigham  Young 
used  to  boast  that  he  had  a  wife  in  every  important 
town  in  Utah  !  and  that  wherever  he  went  he  was 
never  away  from  home ;  an  arrangement,  he  claimed, 


A  NATIONAL  BROTHEL. 

exceedingly  convenient  for  a  man  with  the  infirmities 
of  old  age  upon  him.  "Always  an  open  house  and  a 
wife  waiting  to  care  for  him,"  he  said. 

Others  locate  their  wives  in  different  parts  of  the 
same  town ;  others  still  place  them  in  the  long,  low, 
tenement-houses  that  were  once  so  common  in  Salt 
Lake  City.  These  houses  were  constructed  in  a  pecul- 
iar manner.  They  were  one-story  buildings,  divided 
into  small  tenements  by  partitions  that  had  no  doors 
in  them.  It  was  said  that  it  was  not  conducive  to 
the  peace  and  harmony  of  family  life  that  the  wives 
should  be  able  to  have  access  to  each  other  inside  the 
buildings ;  and  when  they  did  get  together  at  times, 
outside,  they  made  it  exceedingly  lively  among  them- 
selves. 

But  it  is  not  unfrequently  the  case  that  all  live 
together  under  the  same  roof,  and  in  every  sense  as 
one  family.  Especially  is  this  true  of  the  poorer 
classes,  and  in  the  interior  towns  and  settlements  of 
the  Territory.  The  writer  knew  a  family  that  lived 
in  such  a  home  as  he  will  now  describe :  The  house 
was  constructed  of  logs,  and  contained  but  two  rooms 
about  fourteen  feet  square ;  overhead  some  rough 
boards  had  been  placed  upon  the  timbers,  making  a 
little  loft  beneath  the  roof ;  outside  a  small  shed  had 


142  THE  MORMON  PROBLEM. 

been  constructed  where  fuel  was  stored  in  winter, 
and  a  stove  placed  in  summer ;  and  in  that  house 
lived  a  man  with  eight  wives  and  over  twenty  chil- 
dren !  There  was  a  bed  in  each  of  the  two  rooms, 
trundle-beds  beneath,  and  cots  overhead,  while  some 
of  the  children  slept  constantly  in  the  barn.  But 
this  home  was  luxurious  as  compared  with  certain 
homes  that  he  saw  in  Utah.  Sometimes  an  excava- 
tion had  been  made  in  a  hill  and  lined  with  rough 
boards,  a  rude  door-frame  constructed,  and  a  door 
hung  therein  containing  one  or  two  lights  of  window- 
glass,  and  in  such  a  "dug-out"  a  man  might  be  found 
living  with  one  or  two  or  three  wives,  and  all  the 
children.  Plenty  of  such  homes  may  still  be  found 
in  Utah.  The  reader  can  imagine,  or,  rather,  he 
cannot  imagine,  what  kind  of  training  and  discipline 
prevails  in  such  homes,  and  what  kind  of  moral  in- 
fluences prevail  there.  It  has  been  frequently  said 
that  the  condition  of  the  Indians  in  the  mountains 
was  preferable  to  that  of  many  of  these  families — and 
it  is  true.  The  author  was  conversing  recently  with 
a  lady,  who  is  the  wife  of  a  missionary  at  Gaboon,  on 
the  west  coast  of  Africa,  where  they  have  resided 
many  years.  Upon  describing  these  Mormon  homes 
to  her,  she  said:  "I  know  of  nothing  equal  to  that 


A  NATIONAL  BROTH  KL. 


in  Africa!"  But,  then,  this  is  a  "Church"  and  a 
"religion"  entitled  to  constitutional  protection  in 
America  ! 

It  were  an  easy  task  to  fill  volumes  with  these 
accounts  of  wretchedness  and  infamy  in  Utah.  We 
once  knew  of  an  instance  where  a  man  married  a 
woman,  her  daughter,  and  granddaughter,  and  took 
the  three  to  the  same  house  to  live  as  his  wives. 
The  marriage  of  half-brothers  with  half-sisters  —  the 
children  of  the  same  father  by  different  wives  —  has 
occurred,  and  in  fact  nothing  possible  among  men  has 
been  too  vile  and  degrading  to  enter  into  this  part  of 
the  "  latter  day  religion." 

The  question  is  often  asked,  "  Are  these  people 
happy  ?  "  They  will  affirm  that  they  are  ;  it  is  an 
easy  matter  to  obtain  the  signature  of  thousands  of 
polygamous  wives  to  any  document  setting  forth  the 
beauty  and  divinity  of  the  system  ;  or  to  obtain  a 
popular  gathering  to  give  expression  to  the  same 
sentiments.  One  of  the  ablest  and  most  eloquent 
advocates  of  polygamy  the  writer  ever  met  was  the 
wife  of  a  ward  bishop  in  Provo  ;  and  yet  it  became 
known  to  him  that  her  life  was  the  most  wretched, 
and  that  she  constantly  had  personal  encounters  with 
her  associate  wives,  and  sometimes  fought  them  with 


THE  MOEMO^  PROBLEM. 


great  ferocity.  Mast  not  her  "  advocacy  "  have  pro- 
ceeded either  from  fear  or  a  debased  mind  ? 

One  day  a  plural  wife  stopped  for  a  moment  at  the 
door  of  the  parsonage  in  Provo,  as  she  was  returning 
from  church,  weeping  bitterly.  She  was  asked  the 
occasion  of  her  sorrow.  Said  she:  "I  have  got  to 
take  a  severe  whipping  when  I  get  home.  Bishop 
Scott  has  just  said  in  his  sermon,  <  If  your  wives  do 
not  obey  you,  beat  them  till  they  do  ;  they  will  soon 
give  in.'  I  was  so  unfortunate  as  to  disobey  my  hus- 
band this  morning  and  he  is  very  angry  with  me.  I 
saw  him  looking  significantly  at  me  when  the  bishop 
made  that  remark  ;  I  shall  get  a  cruel  beating  —  and 
I  suppose  I  had  better  hurry  along  and  take  it  —  it 
will  be  the  sooner  over."  And  yet  that  woman 
would  defend  polygamy  before  the  world.  Mrs.  Froi- 
sette,  president  of  the  "  Antipolygamy  Society"  of 
Salt  Lake  City,  has  collected  some  very  striking  illus- 
trations of  the  true  character  of  polygamic  life.  The 
following  was  related  at  a  meeting  of  that  society  : 

"A  neighbor  of  mine,  the  first  wife  of  a  promi- 
nent Mormon  living  at  present  in  Salt  Lake  City, 
came  into  my  house  some  little  time  ago  with  her 
otherwise  intelligent  and  handsome  face  sadly  dis- 
figured by  a  black  eye.  Being  aware  that  the  celes- 


A  NATIONAL  BROTHEL.  145 

tial  order  of  marriage  sometimes  occasions  peculiar 
occurrences  in  the  household,  we  refrained  from 
making  any  allusion  to  the  matter  until  she  apolo- 
gized for  it  saying,  'This  is  one  of  the  fruits  of  our 
holy  religion.'  We  asked  for  an  explanation,  which 
was  given  in  the  following  words :  '  You  know  that 
my  husband  has  lately  married  my  servant-girl,  and 
they  are  billing  and  cooing  like  turtle  doves.  Noth- 
ing in  the  house  is  good  enough  for  her,  and  I  have 
so  far  forgotten  my  duties  as  a  Mormon  wife  as  to 
be  unwilling  to  recognize  her  as  the  entire  mistress 
of  the  house,  which,  as  it  happens,  is  mine  and  not 
my  husband's ;  it  and  every  thing  in  it  was  given  me 
by  my  father.  Yesterday  she  graciously  informed 
me  that  if  I  behaved  myself  I  might  remain,  other- 
wise she  would  turn  me  out  of  the  house.  Unfortu- 
nately I  had  the  audacity  to  resent  this  remark,  and 
was  commencing  to  give  her  a  dose  of  her  own  medi- 
cine by  putting  some  of  her  things  out-of-doors, 
when  my  husband  came  home.  For  this  exhibition 
of  -a  wrong  spirit  he  whipped  me  severely,  leaving 
the  marks  you  see.  Upon  leaving  the  room  he  re- 
marked, 4I  am  determined  to  live  my  religion  if  it 
kills  us  all.' "  * 

*  "Women  of-Mormonism,"  pp.  181,  182. 
10 


14:6  THE  MORMON  PROBLEM. 

One  other  illustration  of  this  nature  shall  suffice 
to  show  the  domestic  bliss  of  this  "  celestial "  insti- 
tution. 

A  son  had  been  born  to  the  first  wife  of  a  polyg- 
amous husband.  He  developed  a  wonderful  ferocity 
of  nature,  became  a  law-breaker,  committed  several 
murders,  and  was  finally  lynched  by  an  infuriated 
mob.  The  heart-broken  mother  was  visited  by  an 
elder  of  the  Church.  After  a  few  sympathizing 
words  had  been  spoken  she  arose,  and,  looking  the 
elder  straight  in  the  eye,  she  said  : 

"  '  You  are  responsible  for  the  fate  of  my  poor 
boy  ;  you  and  the  infernal  doctrine  of  polygamy.  It 
was  you  who  persuaded  my  husband  to  take  another 
wife,  to  "  live  up  to  his  privilege,"  as  you  termed  it. 
We  had  lived  happily  till  that  time,  but  polygamy 
made  our  home  like  the  abode  of  Satan.  For  months 
before  the  birth  of  that  boy  I  felt  as  if  I  wanted  to 
kill  his  father's  second  wife,  the  woman  who  had  de- 
stroyed our  home  and  robbed  me  of  my  husband- s 
love.  Murder,  and  nothing  but  murder,  was  in  -my 
heart  all  the  time.  I  never  looked  at  her  but  I 
wanted  to  kill  her.  There  were  times  when  I  would 
willingly  have  yielded  up  my  own  life  if  I  could 
have  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  her  dead  first, 


A  NATIONAL  BROTHEL.  147 

and  by  my  hand.  That  poor  unfortunate  boy  has 
only  paid  the  penalty  of  his  father's  sin  and  his 
mother's  sorrow.'  Then,  raising  her  withered  hand 
on  high,  she  exclaimed :  1 1  pray  God  that  the  curse 
of  an  injured  wife  and  bereaved  mother  may  follow 
you  all  the  days  of  your  life,  for  it  was  you  who  led 
my  husband  into  polygamy.' "  * 

We  have  said  that  the  Mormon  "Church"  is  a 
national  brothel.  Also  let  it  be  said,  that  it  is  a 
national  slaughter-house  of  all  that  is  dear  and  sacred 
and  pure  among  men;  where  woman's  nature  is 
crushed,  and  women's  hearts  are  broken,  and  homes 
are  trampled  upon,  and  sighs  and  sorrows  and  tears 
are  begotten. 

And  yet,  as  the  author  writes,  these  filthy  birds  of 
carrion  and  beasts  of  prey  are  gathered  together  in 
"  Conference  "  and  are  howling  their  defiance  at  the 
United  States,  because,  forsooth,  a  few  of  their  num- 
ber are  being  fined  three  hundred  dollars,  or  are  im- 
prisoned for  six  months  for  a  minor  offense. 

Happy !  Of  all  the  heart-broken,  God-forsaken 
looking  creatures  on  the  face  of  the  earth  a  company 
of  the  plural  wives  of  Utah  are  the  most  so.  Home 
has  become  to  them  but  another  name  for  hell.  Life 

*  "  Women  of  Mormonism,"  pp.  203,  204. 


148  THE  MORMON 


lias  become  to  them  a  season  of  miseries  and  agonies. 
Debasement  and  pollution  and  filthiness  have  become 
their  every-day  experiences  ;  and  here  in  America, 
this  Christian  land  and  boasted  Republic,  where  the 
people  rule  and  every  man  is  a  sovereign,  woman  is 
ruthlessly  trampled  in  the  dust,  a  victim  of  merciless 
cruelty  and  lust  !  And  all  because  a  treasonable  and 
murderous  gang  of  law-breakers  and  canting  hypo- 
crites have  proclaimed  themselves  a  "  Church,"  and 
have  set  up  the  claim  in  these  infernal  practices  "  to 
worship  God  according  to  the  dictates  of  their  own 
consciences  !  r  "  How  LONG,  O  LORD,  HOW  LONG  ?  " 

It  should  be  stated  that  there  are  three  classes  of 

0 
polygamous  wives  in  Utah. 

The  first  are  those  to  whom  the  vileness  of  the 
system  is  not  distasteful.  They  are  few  in  number, 
comparatively,  yet  they  are  there.  Gathering  con- 
verts from  the  lowest  elements  of  society,  some  of  this 
class  have  been  gathered.  To  this  class,  also,  belong 
those  Mormon  women  who,  having  been  so  long  de- 
based in  nature  by  association  with  the  abomination, 
have  become  assimilated  with  it.  Tkese  are  the  bold, 
brazen,  unblushing  female  advocates  of  polygamy, 
who  deliver  addresses  in  its  behalf  at  public  meet- 
ings called  for  the  purpose,  and  who  are  found  so 


*±  NATIONAL  BROTHEL.  149 

often  in  print  in  its  defense.  Lost  to  all  sense  of  the 
refinement  and  purity  of  womanly  nature,  they  join 
with  their  polluted  destroyers,  and  praise  and  advo- 
cate a  cause  that  has  already  degraded  them  in  senti- 
ment and  feeling  to  the  lowest  depths. 

The  second  class  is  comprised  of  those  who  have 
been  led  to  believe  that  Joseph  Smith  was  a  prophet ; 
that  the  "  revelation  on  celestial  marriage  "  came  from 
God,  and  that  polygamy  is  a  divine  institution.  By 
far  the  greater  part  of  plural  wives  belong  to  this 
class.  They  are  sincere  Mormons.  They  regard 
Mormonism  as  a  new  dispensation  of  religion,  and 
Utah  and  the  Church  as  the  true  kingdom  of  God. 
They  have  suffered  more  and  sacrificed  more  for  the 
sake  of  their  religion  than  any  people  since  the  days 
of  the  early  Christians.  They  know  all  the  degrada- 
tion that  polygamy  entails  upon  them ;  they  feel  all 
its  weight  of  woe,  and  drain  to  the  dregs  its  bitterest 
cup  of  sorrows ;  but  they  regard  these  things  as  mat- 
ters of  discipline  and  chastisement,  and  try  to  bear 
their  sufferings  for  the  kingdom  of  God's  sake,  be- 
lieving that  their  "  light  affliction  which  is  but  for 
a  moment,"  will  work  for  them  "  a  far  more  exceed- 
ing and  eternal  weight  of  glory."  They  are  waiting 
patiently  for  death  to  end  their  wretched  career  and 


150  THE  MOKMON  FKOBLEM. 

take  them  to  their  eternal  exaltation.  They  are  de- 
serving of  all  womanly  pity  and  commiseration,  and 
of  all  the  assistance  that  the  strong  arm  of  the  Gov- 
ernment can  bring  to  them. 

The  third  class  are  those  who  see  polygamy  as  it 
really  is,  who  look  upon  it  in  its  true  light,  and  who 
loathe  it  and  hate  it  with  all  the  intensity  of  hate  of 
which  human  nature  is  capable.  But  they  can  no 
more  escape  from  it  than  the  martyr  can  'escape  from 
the  stake  to  which  he  is  chained,  and  where  he  is  to 
be  burned. 

They  are  there,  without  friends,  without  money, 

with  families  of  children  ;  the  most  of  them  are  far 

**• 

from  early  homes  and  associations  ;  they  have  a  feel- 
ing that,  even  could  they  escape,  they  would  bear  the 
reproach  and  curse  of  their  degradation  among  their 
sisters  wherever  they  might  go.  They  have  no  other 
alternative  than  to  suffer;  and  they,  too,  are  long- 
ingly waiting  for  death  to  open  their  prison-doors 
and  set  them  free.*  And  still  the  accursed  iniquity 
goes  on ! 

It  is  doubtless    true  that  more  polygamous  mar- 
riages  have  occurred  in  Utah  during  the  last  ten 
years  than  in  any  ten  years  previous.     Polygamous 
*  See  Appendix,  "  Living  It  Out." 


A  NATIONAL  BROTHEL.  151 

Mormonism  is  effectively  pushing  its  work  through- 
out the  Union.  In  the  Western,  Eastern,  and  Middle 
States  missionaries  are  stealthily  at  work  every  day 
in  the  year.  The  most  of  the  Southern  States  are 
being  districted  into  Mormon  Conferences,  and  pros- 
elytes in  large  numbers  are  being  made  continually. 
In  the  mission  fields  of  the  Old  World  the  success  of 
the  work  is  surprising.  There  the  repulsive  doc- 
trines of  Mormonism  are  concealed,  and  the  poor 
classes  are  told  that  if  they  will  embrace  the  faith 
and  come  to  Utah  they  shall  be  furnished  ready 
money  for  the  purpose  ;  that  when  arrived  there  land 
will  cost  them  nothing,  and  homes  next  to  nothing ; 
that  the  earth  will  cause  every  thing  to  abound  for 
their  subsistence  with  but  little  labor ;  that  they  will 
find  themselves  in  the  "kingdom  of  God,"  where 
God  rules,  angels  minister,  and  prophets  and  apostles 
work  miracles,  etc.  All  this  is  a  very  acceptable 
gospel  to  those  who  hear  it ;  they  become  converts, 
emigrate  to  America,  put  themselves  under  the  rule 
of  the  hierarchy,  and  proceed  to  "  build  up  the 
kingdom." 

Thus  many  hundreds  of  the  young  girls  and  mid- 
dle-aged women  of  those  countries  are  sacrificed 
annually  upon  the  altars  of  American  lust.  O  the 


152  THE  MOKMON  PROBLEM. 

eternal  infamy  and  shame  that  come  to  us  because  of 
this  unsurpassed  and  unsuppressed  traffic  in  human 
virtue  and  human  souls  ! 

The  facts  are  all  known  at  Washington  ;  good  care 
lias  been  taken  every  year  that  the  Government  and 
the  people  should  be  fully  enlightened.  It  would  be 
an  easy  matter  for  the  Government,  and  for  the 
Churches  also,  to  send  representatives  to  these  mis- 
sion fields  and  Conferences  abroad  to  make  known  to 
the  people  affected  thereby  the  true  character  of  Mor- 
monism,  and  thus  dry  up  at  the  fountain-head  the 
springs  of  supply  ;  but  nothing  is  done.  And,  worse 
than  all,  the  dominant  hierarchy  that  holds  its  seat  of 
power  in  Utah  and  sways  its  scepter  over  what  is  al- 
ready an  empire,  is  left  from  year  to  year  in  almost 
undisturbed  possession  of  its  power.  Again  we 
cry,  "How  long,  O  Lord,  how  long?"  Ay,  the 
cry  is  also,  "  How  long,  ye  American  people,  how 
long?" 

The  people  alone  can,  in  this  matter,  answer  their 
own  prayers  and  work  out  the  purposes  of  their  own 
will.  Neither  God  nor  angels,  earthly  or  heavenly 
powers,  can  do  it  for  them. 

And  let  them  remember  the  insolent  challenge  that 
John  Taylor  hurled  at  the  nation  in  the  address 


A  NATIONAL  BROTHEL.  153 

already  quoted,  when   he  raised  his  clenched   hand 
and  cried :  "  I  defy  the  United  States ! " 

We  close  the  chapter  with  portions  of  one  or  two 
of  the  hymns  of  tin's  American  Church  concerning 
polygamy  : 

"  Is  there  no  hope  ?    There  is !    While  men 

Rush  on  from  bad  to  worse, 
Jehovah  speaks,  lest  all  the  earth 

Be  smitten  with  a  curse  : 
He  who  one  talent  liath  abused, 

Hear  it  I  ye  sons  of  men, 
Shall  lose  it,  and  it  shall  be  given 

To  him  who  improves  ten. 

"  Through  him  who  holds  the  sealing  power, 

Ye  faithful  ones  who  heed 
Celestial  laws,  take  many  wives, 

And  rear  a  righteous  seed. 
Though  fools  revile,  I'll  honor  you, 

As  Abraham,  my  friend  ; 
You  shall  be  gods,  and  shall  be  blest 

With  lives  that  never  end." 

"  The  time  the  prophet  saw  is  on  the  wing, 
When  seven  women  to  one  man  shall  cling, 
Not  for  the  lack  of  clothing  or  of  bread, 
But  for  a  husband — a  man — a  head  I 
To  obviate  reproach  and  share  his  name, 
For  to  be  single  then  will  be  a  shame ; 


154:  THE  MORMON  PROBLEM. 

For  war  will  strew  its  victims  o'er  the  plain, 
And  maddened  men  rush  heedless  to  be  slain ; 
A  man  shall  be  more  precious  in  the  land 
Than  golden  wedges  from  the  Ophir  strand. 

"  If  you  perchance  among  the  worthies  stand, 
And  seven  women  claim  your  saving  hand, 
Do  not  reject  the  six  and  save  the  one, 
And  boast  of  magnanimity  when  done." 


"  Then,  0,  let  us  say — 

God  bless  the  wife  that  strives 
And  aids  her  husband  all  she  can 

To  obtain  a  dozen  wives." 


THE  RESPONSIBILITY  FIXED.  155 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE  RESPONSIBILITY  FIXED. 

THESE  things  have  not  been  done  in  a  corner. 
Ever  since  the  first  gathering  of  the  saints  in  Ohio 
the  utmost  publicity  has  been  given  to  the  treason- 
able designs  of  the  leaders,  and  also  to  their  career 
of  crime.  How  much  has  been  done  by  the  nation 
to  restrict  the  same  ? 

First  of  all  Millard  Fillmore,  with  the  advice  and 
consent  of  the  Senate,  appointed  Brigham  Young, 
the  head  of  the  openly  proclaimed  "  kingdom,"  the 
blackest  scoundrel  and  the  greatest  villain  and  crim- 
inal in  all  the  land,  Governor  of  Utah  ! 

In  1857  an  army  was  sent  to  Utah  to  subdue  re- 
bellion, but  was  rendered  ineffective  by  the  diplomacy 
of  Mormon  leaders,  through  whom  the  Government 
was  outwitted  and  a  substantial  victory  secured  for 
the  Mormon  cause.  The  whole  thing  proved  to  be 
worse  than  a  ridiculous  farce. 

In  1862  a  law  was  passed  by  Congress  making 
polygamy  a  crime  punishable  by  proper  penalties ; 


156  THE  MORMON  PROBLEM. 

but  the  courts  were  left  under  the  control  of  the 
priesthood,  and  the  law  remained  practically  a  dead 
letter.  If,  in  1861,  Congress  had  pronounced  against 
the  right  of  secession  and  then  dropped  the  whole 
matter,  it  would  have  been  a  parallel  case. 

In  1871  the  Poland  bill  was  passed,  but  not  until 
every  stringent  feature  had  been  amended  out  of  it  in 
the  Senate. 

Then  came  the  Edmunds  bill  a  few  years  later, 
and  now  in  operation  as  a  law.  It  is  aimed  solely  at 
polygamy ;  leaves  the  government  of  the  Territory, 
and  all  local  and  municipal  government  entirely  in 
the  hands  of  the  hierarchy,  and  puts  no  restriction 
upon  the  spread  and  building  up  of  the  theocracy. 
It  was  a  step  in  the  right  direction.  It  has  had  a 
fine  moral  effect.  It  is  the  occasion  of  a  great  deal 
of  discomfort  to  the  saints,  but  does  not  greatly 
weaken  this  treasonable  and  criminal  organization 
in  its  steady  and  unrelenting  purpose  to  establish  a 
theocratic  empire.  As  has  already  been  stated,  not 
more  than  one  eighth  of  the  Mormons  are  living  in 
polygamy.  Then,  the  law  only  touches  here  and 
there  one  of  these  ;  besides,  nearly  all  the  convictions 
are  for  a  minor  offense  ;  and,  finally,  the  penalties 
inflicted  are  comparatively  light.  Meanwhile  the 


THE  RESPONSIBILITY  FIXED.  157 

theocracy  grows  with  great  rapidity,  and  the  despot- 
ism and  robbery  and  general  lawlessness  continue. 

Bills  have  been  introduced  at  every  session  of 
Congress  containing  all  needed  provisions,  only  to 
be  kept  passing  from  House  or  Senate  to  committees 
and  back  again,  or  to  be  taken  from  one  House  to  an- 
other with  amendments,  or  to  be  otherwise  delayed 
till  the  session  should  close  and  no  vote  be  had. 

Tli is  kind  of  dalliance  has  been  the  history  of  all 
attempted  stringent  legislation  for  Utah  for  the  last 
twenty  years. 

National  conventions  have  inserted  clauses  in  their 
platforms  in  opposition  to  Mormonism,  and  presi- 
dents have  annually  referred  to  the  evil  in  their  mes- 
sages, all  to  the  great  amusement  and  contempt  of  the 
Mormon  hierarchy. 

There  is  some  cause  for  all  this.  The  press  lias, 
almost  without  exception,  been  on  the  right  side  of 
the  question.  Public  sentiment  has  been  a  unit  on 
the  subject.  The  facts  of  Mormon  history  have 
been  proclaimed  from  the  housetop — and  still  noth- 
ing effective  has  been  reached  in  all  these  years ! 
After  years  of  patient  study  and  research,  the  author 
has  arrived  at  the  settled  conclusion  that  two  facts 
lie  at  the  bottom  of  all  this  hesitation  and  inefficiency, 


158  THE  MOKMON  PKOBLEM. 

namely,  Mormon  patronage  in  our  great  commercial 
centers,  and  Mormon  gold  at  Washington;  and  lie 
will  now  attempt  to  justify  that  conclusion. 

Actual  facts  are  the  most  convincing,  and  these 
alone  shall  be  used. 

In  one  of  our  large  cities  one  of  the  heavy  capital- 
ists of  the  place,  a  public  man  and  afterward  a  mem- 
ber of  Congress,  had  promised  certain  important 
favors  in  aid  of  missionary  and  Church  work  in 
Utah.  Suddenly,  to  the  great  surprise  of  all,  he 
withdrew  his  promise.  It  was  afterward  found,  that 
just  at  that  time  he  secured  large  contracts  and  or- 
ders in  his  line  of  merchandise  from  Zion's  Co-oper- 
ative Mercantile  Institution.  This  squelched  him. 
He  had  made  a  little  speech  at  a  public  meeting  on 
the  Mormon  question,  and,  although  he  had  requested 
the  reporters  present  not  to  publish  his  remarks,  still 
his  attitude  drew  upon  him  the  attention  of  the 
agents  and  friends  of  the  hierarchy  in  that  place, 
and  they  well  knew  how  to  manage  him.  He  was 
too  important  a  man,  and  carried  too  great  an  influ- 
ence, to  be  allowed  to  stand  actively  committed 
against  them.  The  same  and  kindred  methods  are 
pursued  in  every  large  city  in  the  Union. 

The  writer  had  occasion,  at  one  time,  in  one  of  our 


THE  RESPONSIBILITY  FIXED.  159 

largest  cities,  to  get  certain  matters  in  relation  to 
Utah  into  the  daily  papers  of  the  city.  Two  of  the 
papers  refused  to  open  their  columns ;  one  consented 
to  publish  the  facts  offered  by  the  non-Mormons,  but 
at  so  late  a  day  that  it  could  do  no  good.  Finally, 
one  of  the  principal  editors  of  a  fourth  paper  kindly 
said  to  the  writer,  with  whom  he  had  been  made  ac- 
quainted by  an  influential  friend :  "  I  may  as  well  tell 
you  that  I  know  that  the  columns  of  the  city  papers 
are  closed  for  a  time  to  that  subject."  "  That  sub- 
ject "  was  a  correct  version  of  Judge  M'Kean's  decis- 
ion in  the  Ann  Eliza  Young  divorce  suit,  concerning 
which  the  Mormons  had  concocted  and  executed  a 
cunning  conspiracy  to  put  Judge  M'Kean  in  a  false 
light,  and  secure  his  removal  from  the  bench,  as  shall 
be  more  fully  related  hereafter.  The  stockholders  of 
these  papers  had  been  "  seen,"  at  that  important 
juncture  of  Utah  affairs,  by  the  agents  of  the  Mormon 
priesthood. 

Now  as  to  the  use  of  Mormon  gold  at  Washington. 
We  select  the  occasion  of  the  passage  of  the  Poland 
bill  above  referred  to.  After  being  debated,  amended, 
and  delayed  by  all  possible  parliamentary  tactics,  it 
finally  passed  the  lower  House  and  went  to  the  Sen- 
ate during  the  very  last  hour  of  the  session.  It  was 


160  THE  MORMON  PKOBLEM. 

there  attacked  by  a  senator,  who  would  only  withdraw 
his  assaults  on  it  on  the  acceptance  of  certain  amend- 
ments, which  utterly  destroyed  its  force  as  against  the 
Mormon  hierarchy.  The  bill  contained  certain  minor 
provisions  which  its  friends  thought  best  to  save ;  and 
rather  than  lose  these,  together  with  the  whole  moral 
effect  of  the  measure,  the  amendments  were  accepted, 
the  bill  as  passed  was  returned  to  the  lower  House  for 
concurrence,  and  finally  passed  that  body  in  the  very 
last  moments  of  the  session.  But,  as  the  priesthood 
expressed  themselves  with  reference  to  it,  "  the  sting 
had  been  extracted  by  the  honorable  senator." 

It  transpired  that  the  senator  referred  to  was  the 
attorney  for  the  Central  Pacific  Railroad,  which  road 
had  just  received  important  benefits  and  concessions 
from  Brigham  Young.  The  road  had  instructed  its 
attorney  thus  to  reward  "the  Lord's  vicegerent." 
This  attorney  was  alone  responsible  for  the  defeat  of 
the  practical  measures  contained  in  the  Poland  bill. 
It  was  also  a  matter  of  public  report  that  while  that 
bill  was  pending  a  draft  of  $100,000  went  from  Brig- 
ham  Young  to  Washington,  and  was  traced  in  the 
banks. 

The  writer  was  once  informed  by  a  man  who  had 
been  intimate  in  the  councils  of  Brigham  Young,  that 


THE  RESPONSIBILITY  FIXED.  161 

when,  at  one  time,  a  stringent  measure  was  pending 
in  Washington,  a  u  council "  was  called,  and  the  mat- 
ter was  discussed.  Brigham  listened  for  awhile,  and 
then  sneeringly  said :  "  Gentlemen,  you  need  give 
yourselves  no  uneasiness  on  the  subject ;  I  have  drawn 
a  goodly  draft  upon  the  tithing  fund." 

One  thing  is  sure.  Whenever  any  effective  bill 
providing  for  the  limitation  of  the  power  and  govern- 
ment of  the  priesthood  is  introduced  into  Congress, 
one  or  two  members  in  each  House  are  always  found 
to  "  stave  off  legislation  "  by  parliamentary  tactics  or 
otherwise;  and  this  fact,  taken  in  connection  with 
Brigham  Young's  public  boast,  is  significant;  the 
boast  was,  "  I  can  put  one  hand  in  one  pocket,  and 
then  put  Congress  in  the  other." 

Only  one  or  two  influential  members  in  each  House 
are  all  that  is  needed  to  protect  the  interests  of  the 
theocracy.  These  are  always  at  hand ;  and,  through 
their  efforts,  the  much-needed  legislation  has  been  de- 
feated— by  delay  and  by  amendments. 

We  now  offer  evidence  that  is  still  more  positive 
and  conclusive : 

Mrs.  Ann  Eliza  Young  had  brought  suit  in  Judge 
M'Kean's  court  against  Brigham  Young  for  divorce 
and  alimony;  averring  in  the  complaint  that  she  was 


132  THE  MORMON  PROBLEM. 

his  wife.  In  his  answer  to  the  complaint  Brigham 
admitted  that  he  had  married  the  plaintiff,  but  set  up 
the  claim  that  the  marriage  was  illegal.  Judge 
M'Kean  decided  that,  having  admitted  a  marriage, 
Brigham  must  prove  in  court  that  it  was  illegal ;  and, 
until  he  did  so,  that  is,  pending  litigation,  he  decreed 
that  Brigham  should  pay  a  certain  amount  monthly 
as  alimony.  The  Judge  claimed  that  he  could  not 
accept  the  pleading  of  Brigham  as  evidence,  nor  yet 
could  he  take  judicial  knowledge  of  current  reports; 
having  admitted  that  a  marriage  had  taken  place,  the 
defendant  must  show,  by  competent  evidence,  that  it 
was  not  legal.  The  decision  was  sound  beyond  ques- 
tion, and  was  sustained  by  each  of  Judge  M'Kean's 
successors,  until  the  suit  was  terminated — the  only 
change  made  by  any  of  them  being  a  reduction  of  the 
amount  of  alimony  decreed.  But  Brigham  was  dis- 
mayed. To  be  obliged  to  prove  before  all  his  people, 
that  polygamous  wives  were  no  wives  at  all,  filled  him 
with  terror ;  but  to  part  with  his  money  made  him 
furious.  He  refused  to  do  either,  and  Judge  M'Kean 
promptly  imprisoned  him  for  contempt.  The  Mor- 
mons were  utterly  confounded.  NevCr  before  had 
hope  so  utterly  died  within  them ;  their  prophet 
and  leader,  who  had  sworn  that  if  "  the  officers  of  the 


THE  RESPONSIBILITY  FIXED.  163 

law  tried  to  arrest  him,  lie  would  "  send  them  to  hell 
across  lots,"  was  in  prison.  The  hand  of  the  law  was 
heavy  upon  them ;  the  tide  of  affairs  was  against  them  ; 
and  many  who  had  been  supposed  strong  in  the  faith 
were  beginning  to  talk  of  their  coming  dissolution  as 
an  organized  power.  Judge  M'Kean  had  a  grip  upon 
the  throat  of  Monnonism  that  has  never  been  equaled. 

But  all  at  once  the  message  flashed  across  the 
wires :  "  Judge  M'Kean  is  removed." 

The  Mormons  went  wild  with  joy.  Loud  and 
long  were  their  triumphal  shouts,  and  they  made  Utah 
ring  with  the  refrain  : 

"  The  Lord  hath  triumphed  gloriously ! 

The  horse  and  his  rider  has  he  thrown  into  the  sea." 

The  priesthood  had  caused  the  false  report  to  be 
sent  abroad,  and  took  good  care  that  it  should  be  so 
laid  before  the  Government,  and  heralded  in  the 
press,  that  Judge  M'Kean  in  his  decision  had  recog- 
nized polygamy  as  valid  marriage.  The  non-Mor- 
mons in  Utah  burdened  the  mails  and  heated  the 
wires  with  evidence  that  this  was  false ;  but  all  to  no 
effect. 

Finally,  the  author,  who  was  then  in  the  States, 
visited  Washington,  being  delegated  by  the  non- 
Mormon  people  of  Utah  to  give  a  correct  version  of 


164:  THE  MORMON  PROBLEM. 

all  the  facts  to  the  President.  He  took  counsel  in  the 
matter  with  one  of  the  most  prominent  members  of 
the  Senate,  who  made  to  him  this  remarkable  state- 
ment, under  promise  that  no  names  should  ever  be 
given  to  the  public: 

"Your  visit  will  accomplish  nothing.  Nothing 
that  the  people  of  Utah  can  do  will  result  in  any  good. 
I  happen  to  know  that  Judge  M'Kean's  decision  had 
nothing  whatever  to  do  with  his  removal.  I  was 
with  the  President  when  he  was  visited  by  Senator 

and  Senator  ,  and  they  jointly  requested 

him,  as  a  personal  and  political  favor,  to  remove 
Judge  M'Kean  and  appoint  his  successor.  The 
President,  just  at  this  time,  is  none  too  strong  in  the 
Senate ;  in  view  of  o.ther  great  public  interests  he 
feels  that  he  cannot  quarrel  with  two  senators  over  a 
Territorial  judgeship ;  he  has  removed  the  judge  at 
their  request,  and  the  judicial  decision  has  been  falsi- 
fied to  him  and  to  the  world  as  a  pretext  for  the 
removal." 

Subsequent  events  corroborated  the  statement. 

One  of  the  two  senators  was  the  same  that  secured 
the  defeat  of  the  practical  features  of  the  Poland 
bill,  and,  as  the  Mormons  put  it,  "extracted  the 
sting  from  it."  The  other  had  been  considered  in 


THE  RESPONSIBILITY  FIXED.  165 

Utah  for  years  as  a  paid  attorney  of  Brigham  Young 
to  look  after  the  interests  of  Mormonism  at  Washing- 
ton. We  are  not  trifling  with  this  matter ;  we  did 
not  intend  to  when  we  began  this  chapter ;  it  is  no 
trifling  affair.  Let  none  lift  their  hands  in  holy 
horror  at  these  charges;  particularly  let  not  the 
aiders  and  abettors  of  Mormonism  at  the  seat  of 
Government  affect  too  much  indignation.  They 
might  as  well  understand  that  the  time  has  come 
when  the  American  people  know  that  Mormon  gold 
is  more  potent  at  Washington  in  preserving  this  trea- 
sonable and  bloody  scheme  of  priestly  dominion  and 
crime,  than  public  sentiment  is  to  crush  it.  * 

Other  agencies  are  carefully  selected  by  the  priest- 
hood to  hold  public  sentiment  in  check,  and  keep  it 
under  control. 

Able  writers  are  employed  to  wield  their  pens  in 
defense  of  Mormonism,  and  occasionally  in  the  maga- 
zines and  other  current  literature  their  productions 
appear.  These  studiously  seek  to  draw  attention 
from  the  real  issues  involved  in  the  Mormon  ques- 
tion, and  to  conceal  the  enormities  of  the  system. 
At  the  time  when  the  Mountain  Meadows  massacre 
was  under  discussion  in  the  press,  and  the  horrid 
details  were  being  published  to  the  world,  one  of 


166  THE  MORMON  PROBLEM. 

these  writers  contributed  a  magazine  article  in  which 
he  justified  the  priesthood,  and  charged  upon  the 
victims  that  they  deserved  death  because  of  dis- 
orderly conduct  while  passing  through  the  Terri- 
tory. It  ought  to  have  been  enough  that  these 
unhappy  people  were  butchered  as  they  were,  with- 
out attempting  to  traduce  them  after  they  had  been 
in  their  graves  eighteen  years.  Recently  this  same 
writer  has  published  a  pamphlet  setting  forth  the  loy- 
alty and  law-abiding  character  of  the  Mormons — and 
that  in  the  light  of  their  own  statements  and  history ! 
So,  occasionally,  newspaper  articles  are  contributed, 
and  sometimes  editorial  matter  appears,  manifestly  for 
the  purpose  of  misleading  the  pubh'c  mind.  These 
writers  are  the  paid  servants  of  the  hierarchy. 

There  is  still  another  method  employed  for  this 
purpose.  It  was  formerly  the  custom,  and  it  still  is 
to  some  extent,  to  keep  a  close  watch  of  all  incom- 
ing railroad  trains;  and  when  men  of  wealth,  or 
public  or  literary  men,  or  those  occupying  positions 
of  public  trust  came  to  Utah,  they  were  immediately 
taken  in  hand  by  the  priesthood.  They  were  wel- 
comed to  Zion  with  more  or  less  eclat,  according  as 
their  prominence  and  influence  might  warrant.  They 
were  accorded  the  supreme  privilege  of  a  private. 


THE  RESPONSIBILITY  FIXED.  167 

interview  with  Brigliam  Young  ;  they  were  taken 
on  excursions  to  the  mountains,  feasted,  entertained, 
and  finally  sent  away  with  protestations  of  undying 
esteem.  These  men  were  sure  to  be  heard  of  after- 
ward in  defense  of  Morinonism.  Possibly  it  never 
occurred  to  them  that  they  could  as  consistently  have 
become  the  guests  of  a  bagnio,  or  been  entertained 
by  a  gang  of  burglars  and  cut-throats. 

Besides  all  these  methods,  the  representatives  of 
the  Mormon  priesthood  are  every-where.  The  writer, 
while  on  his  lecturing  tours,  lias  found  the  mission- 
aries stealthily  at  work  all  over  the  country ;  he  has 
been  confronted  by  their  elders  in  unlooked-for 
places ;  he  has  found  that  a  system  of  espionage  and 
reporting  prevails  throughout  the  land ;  no  event 
can  transpire  in  any  part  of  the  nation  affecting  the 
interests  of  the  theocracy  that  is  not  at  once  known 
in  the  secret  councils  of  the  hierarchy.  The  Mor- 
mon priesthood  is  one  of  the  deepest  laid  and  most 
cunningly  devised  institutions  of  the  kind  the  world 
ever  produced,  and  but  few  have  the  remotest  idea 
of  its  vast  proportions.  The  leaders  of  Mormonism 
understand  full  well  that  they  are  engaged  in  a 
hand-to-hand  conflict  with  all  Christendom,  and  they 
have  planned  accordingly. 


168  THE  MOKMON  PROBLEM. 

But,  notwithstanding  these  facts,  the  responsibility 
for  the  existence  and  perpetuity  of  this  gigantic  evil 
lies  upon  the  people.  The  Territories  are  governed 
by  the  sisterhood  of  States.  Senators  and  Represent- 
atives at  Washington  are,  after  all,  the  servants  of 
the  people.  They  have  full  power.  They  could,  at 
a  single  day's  session,  repeal  every  law  a  Mormon 
legislature  has  ever  passed,  take  away  their  charter, 
wrest  all  government  from  their  hands,  break  down 
every  monopoly,  enact  healthy  laws,  and  provide  for 
free  government  in  the  Territories.  Influenced  by 
partisan  motives,  or  hindered  by  Mormon  gold,  or 
led  by  secret  agencies  of  the  kingdom,  they  may  not 
use  the  power,  probably  will  not  in  the  future  as 
they  have  not  in  the  past,  unless  the  people  speak ! 
So  long  as  the  masses  are  content  to  let  the  iniquity 
go  on,  or  are  satisfied  with  a  few  troublesome  prose- 
cutions in  Utah,  or  rest  with  now  and  then  entering 
a  feeble  protest,  nothing  will  be  done.  Do  but  let 
the  people  speak  as  they  have  done  in  other  matters, 
and  needed  results  will  follow.  The  passage  of  the 
Edmunds  bill  affords  an  illustration.  Those  well  in- 
formed upon  the  Mormon  question  knew  full  well 
that  it  was  not  even  a  half-way  measure ;  but  it  was 
something.  It  was  thought  that  it  might  prove  a 


THE  RESPONSIBILITY  FIXED.  169 

stepping-stone  to  something  more  effective ;  at  any 
rate  it  was  the  best  that  we  could  get  at  the  time. 
Churches  and  clergymen  began  to  move  in  the  mat- 
ter; mass-meetings  were  held  in  every  part  of  the 
land ;  petitions  and  resolutions  were  poured  in  like 
a  flood  upon  Congress;  the  press  felt  the  quicken- 
ing of  the  national  conscience  and  the  stirring  of 
its  blood,  and  it  began  to  thunder.  For  awhile  the 
mountain  at  Washington  duly  labored,  and  then  the 
mouse  was  born!  At  last  we  had  a  measure  that 
would  give  a  little  discomfort  to  a  few  of  these 
blood-red  ruffians  of  the  Rocky  Mountains. 

Thank  Heaven  !  And  Heaven  be  praised  when 
the  time  shall  come  that  the  American  people  shall 
annihilate  this  monstrous  curse  and  disgrace ! 

That  time  will  come  when  the  people  begin  again 
to  move.  Let  mass-meetings  again  be  held  in  every 
city,  village,  and  town.  Let  the  clergy  and  others 
see  that  they  are  held.  Let  the  various  Christian 
and  philanthropic  organizations  co-operate.  Let  the 
press  lead  or  follow  as  it  may  choose — it  can  choose 
to  do  either — but  let  it  move  with  all  its  vast  power 
against  this  enemy  of  civilization,  and  again  there 
shall  be  a  stir  at  Washington. 

It    is    the    lasting   infamy    and    disgrace  of    our 


170  THE  MORMON  PROBLEM. 

country  that  this  great  theocratic  organization  of 
ruffians  has  grown  up  and  practiced  its  immoralities 
and  pursued  its  career  of  crime  in  a  land  ruled  by 
the  people. 

There  is  probably  no  other  Christian  government 
that  would  have  tolerated  the  abomination  half  the 
length  of  time.  The  Queen's  government  would 
stamp  it  out  in  a  day.  The  hand  of  Bismarck  would 
fall  heavily  upon  it.  Even  Turkey  would  not  tol- 
erate such  an  openly  avowed  treasonable  organization, 
that  was  plotting  the  overthrow  of  the  government, 
and  that  gloried  in  an  unparalleled  record  of  crime. 
But  in  America!  boasted  land  of  liberty  arid  mo- 
rality, where  every  man  is  a  sovereign,  the  accursed 
thing  has  been  left  to  advance  with  rapid  strides. 
And  all  because  the  veriest  cut-throats  in  the  world 
presume  to  say,  "  We  will  worship  God  according  to 
the  dictates  of  our  own  conscience ! "  No,  not  alto- 
gether because  of  that ;  because,  also,  certain  of  our 
own  citizens  join  in  the  sentiment,  and  say :  "  We 
must  not  interfere  with  a  Church,  or  with  the  relig- 
ion of  any  people,  for  the  Constitution  guarantees 
religious  liberty.  We  will  only  seek  to  strike  from 
the  tree  a  single  leaf  that  quivers  upon  its  branches, 
namely,  polygamy." 


THE  RESPONSIBILITY  FIXED.  171 


RECAPITULATION. 

Let  us  review  the  argument.  In  this  volume  we 
have  endeavored  to  state  the  Mormon  question.  It 
has  been  shown  that  it  was  not  a  question  chiefly  of 
polygamy  in  Utah,  or  of  religion  or  irreligion  in  the 
Territories,  but  rather  a  question  of  free  American 
government  as  against  that  of  a  priestly  oligarchy. 

We  have  seen  the  unparalleled  growth  and  the 
present  alarming  proportions  of  Mormonism.  From 
its  numerical,  political,  and  ecclesiastical  strength, 
and  from  its  vast  resources,  we  have  seen  how  great 
is  the  danger  that  threatens  us  in  the  future. 

We  have  reviewed  the  remedies  relied  upon  to 
eradicate  the  evil,  especially  that  which  has  received 
the  approbation  of  those  best  acquainted  with  the 
state  of  affairs  in  Utah,  including  three  chief  mag- 
istrates of  the  Union  in  succession. 

We  have  found  the  Mormon  Church  to  be  a  men- 
ace to  free  government,  and  an  attempt  at  a  purely 
theocratic  kingdom  in  this  Republic ;  that  it  has  been 
so  proclaimed  by  every  one  of  its  leaders  from  its 
first  inception  until  the  present  hour;  that  this  senti- 
ment has  been  avowed  in  its  sermons,  sung  in  its 
hymns,  and  breathed  in  its  prayers ;  while  it  is  also 


172  THE  MORMON  PROBLEM. 

the  burden  of  all  its  literature.  We  liave  traced  its 
open  acts  of  hostility  to  the  Government  and  its  laws 
at  every  step,  its  utter  defiance  of  national  authority, 
and  its  contempt  of  federal  officers. 

We  have  seen  that  it  was  an  organized  system  of 
crime  and  lawlessness,  created  for  purposes  of  fraud 
and  plunder,  and  advocating  and  practicing  the  mon- 
strous doctrines  of  religious  murder  and  human  sacri- 
fice for  sin;  and  we  have  found  in  connection  with 
it  a  record  of  blood  that,  all  things  considered,  is 
hardly  equaled  in  the  annals  of  human  atrocity. 

It  has  been  demonstrated  to  be  a  vast  national 
brothel,  and  a  slaughter-house  of  human  hopes,  and 
of  all  that  is  dear  and  precious  in  human  homes.  We 
have  seen  it  perfecting  a  system  of  unlimited  license 
in  the  gratification  of  lust,  while  it  has  mercilessly 
trampled  woman  beneath  its  feet,  and  justifying  its 
course  as  the  only  way  of  life  and  salvation,  and  un- 
der the  sanction  of  the  penalty  of  eternal  damnation. 

We  have  seen  the  dalliance  of  the  nation  with  this 
evil,  and  have  examined  the  methods  and  agencies 
employed  by  the  dominant  priesthood  to  protect  its 
interests  and  further  its  ends.  Particularly  have  we 
seen  it  raising  a  million  of  dollars  annually  for  this 
purpose,  and  to  propagate  its  work,  and  using  the 


THE  EESPONSIBILITY  FIXED.  173 

same   without    stint    when    circumstances  have   re- 
quired. 

We  have  inquired  as  to  the  responsibility  for  the 
existence  and  perpetuity  of  the  gigantic  evil,  and 
have  found  it  to  rest  upon  the  people ;  and  to  the 
people  we  now  submit  the  question,  ask  for  their 
verdict,  and  demand  that  judgment  be  pronounced. 


174:  THE  MOEMON  PKOBLEM. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

ADDRESS  TO  THE  CHURCHES. 

THERE  is  an  element  in  this  Mormon  question  that 
does  not  concern  the  Government,  but  which  con- 
cerns the  Churches  very  much.  It  relates  to  the 
supremacy  of  truth  over  error  and  of  our  holy  Chris- 
tianity over  the  hearts  and  lives  of  the  unhappy 
people  of  Utah. 

The  first  thing  that  confronts  a  Christian  mission- 
ary in  Utah  is  the  prevalence  of  an  absurd  system 
of  religious  doctrines — such  as  the  plurality  of  gods ; 
the  propagation  of  offspring  by  the  deities ;  the  pre- 
existence  of  human  souls ;  baptism  for  the  remission 
of  sins,  personally  and  by  proxy ;  the  frequent  repe- 
tition of  the  ordinance  for  the  frequent  sins  com- 
mitted ;  Adam-worship ;  celestial  kingdoms  for  polyg- 
amous families ;  the  acceptance  of  the  Book  of  Mor- 
mon (Mark  Twain  has  truthfully  described  it  as 
"  Chloroform  in  Print "),  of  "  Doctrines  and  Cove- 
nants," and  of  whatever  trash  a  lecherous  priesthood 
may  be  pleased  to  pronounce  divinely  inspired.  To 


ADDRESS  TO  THE  CHURCHES.  175 

supplant  these  errors,  and  successfully  present  the 
pure  and  elevating  principles  of  religion,  is  no  easy 
task.  You  are  met  at  the  very  outset  by  the  Mor- 
mon people  with  the  claim  that  you  are  as  yet  in  the 
very  alphabet  of  religion,  while  they  have  graduated 
into  the  highest  departments.  The  author  was  once 
visited  at  his  home  by  a  sincere  and  zealous  Mormon, 
who  came  for  the  purpose  of  converting  him  to  Mor- 
monism.  He  came  at  early  morning  and  labored 
faithfully  the  entire  day — we  giving  up  the  day  to 
his  efforts.  He  announced  his  purpose  with  great 
diffidence ;  his  task  was  "  a  heavy  cross,"  but  he  de- 
clared that "  he  loved  my  soul  and  could  not  bear  any 
longer  to  see  me  perish  in  the  darkness  of  Babylonish 
night."  I  assured  him  that  I  respected  his  motives, 
had  often  felt  burdened  with  the  same  interest  for 
his  people,  and  with  the  same  duty  to  men  in  other 
places.  I  made  him  welcome,  and  one  by  one  we 
discussed  for  a  whole  day  the  doctrines  of  the  Mor- 
mon faith.  FTe  regarded  me  as  being  under  a  great 
delusion ;  and  the  only  argument  that  I  used  with 
effect  upon  him,  was  an  appeal  to  matter  of  fact  as 
regarded  the  fruits  of  Mormonism  in  Utah  when  put 
in  comparison  with  the  fruits  of  true  godliness  in 
other  places. 


176  THE  MORMON  PROBLEM. 

Here  was  a  Mormon  of  far  more  than  average 
intelligence  who  would  listen  to  a  missionary,  but  on 
whom  both  argument  and  appeal  were  entirely  lost. 

Another  illustration  was  afforded  in  the  great  dis- 
cussion some  years  ago,  in  the  Tabernacle,  between 
the  Kev.  Dr.  Newman  and  Orson  Pratt,  on  the  bib- 
lical sanction  of  polygamy.  Beyond  any  question 
Dr.  Newman  made  the  most  of  the  Bible  argument 
against  polygamy,  and  utterly  defeated  his  antagonist ; 
but  in  the  estimation  of  the  masses  in  Utah  he  him- 
self was  defeated,  and  for  two  reasons :  first,  no  argu- 
ment could  have  weight  with  his  auditors  upon  that 
subject,  inasmuch  as  one  cannot  argue  with  fanatics ; 
and,  secondly,  because  he  addressed  himself  to  his 
audience  as  he  would  have  done  in  Washington  or 
New  York  city.  He  shot  over  the  heads  of  his 
hearers,  while  his  antagonist,  knowing  the  people 
better,  adapted  himself  to  them,  and  though  lame 
in  argument  and  greatly  beneath  the  learned  and 
eloquent  doctor  in  ability,  carried  off  the  palm. 

The  next  obstacle  that  meets  you  is  the  monstrous 
superstitions  of  the  people.  The  priesthood  claim 
infallibility,  and  the  people  concede  it  to  those  coarse, 
vulgar,  and  repulsive  men.  They  claim,  also,  power 
to  work  all  manner  of  miracles,  and  the  people  be- 


ADDRESS  TO  THE  CHURCHES.  ITT 

lieve  it.  I  have  heard  scores  of  Mormons  relate  their 
experiences  in  being  "  healed,"  and  heard  them  give 
the  most  marvelous  accounts  of  miracle-working  pow- 
er. Occasionally  the  claim  involves  the  priesthood  in 
some  difficulty,  but  the  credulity  of  their  victims  is 
usually  sufficient  to  extricate  them.  "We  give  a  case 
in  point : 

A  Norwegian  had  lost  a  leg.  In  his  native  land 
he  was  met  by  a  Mormon  missionary  who  told  him 
that  if  he  would  embrace  the  Mormon  faith,  come  to 
Utah,  and  present  himself  before  the  prophet  of  the 
Lord,  the  lost  member  should  be  restored.  He  be- 
came a  convert,  "  obeyed  counsel,"  and  in  due  time 
presented  himself  before  Brigham  Young.  He  told 
the  prophet  what  had  been  promised  him,  and  meekly 
claimed  the  fulfillment. 

Brigham  was  not  embarrassed,  but,  viewing  him 
for  a  moment  with  great  complacency,  he  said : 
"  Yes,  my  brother,  I  can  restore  to  you  your  lost 
leg.  But  let  us  see  if  it  would  be  wisdom  to  do  so. 
You  believe  in  the  resurrection  of  the  human  body 
at  the  last  day.  Yery  well.  The  limb  of  which  you 
have  been  deprived  will  then  be  restored.  If  I 
also  should  give  to  you  another,  that  would  necessa- 
rily be  a  part  of  you,  and  would  remain — so  that  you 
12 


178  THE  MOKMON  PROBLEM. 

would  be  burdened  with  three  legs  forever.  What 
would  be  to  you  a  temporary  comfort  would  be- 
come an  unbearable  burden  to  you  to  all  eternity ! 
Go,  my  brother,  and  praise  God  that  he  has  en- 
dowed his  prophet  with  wisdom  above  all  human 
wisdom." 

The  "  brother "  departed  deeply  impressed,  and 
stronger  in  the  faith  than  ever. 

As  a  further  illustration  of  the  mental  and  moral 
acumen  of  these  people,  take  the  ridiculous  supersti- 
tion as  to  the  "  Order  of  Enoch."  The  Mormons 
claim  that  the  Bible  account  of  the  translation  of 
Enoch  is  incomplete  ;  that  when  he  was  taken  a  large 
city,  known  as  the  city  of  Enoch,  ascended  with  him, 
and  that  a  large  section  of  country  surrounding  the 
city  accompanied  the  same.  They  say  that  this  city 
and  adjoining  country  occupied  the  place  now  filled 
with  the  waters  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico ;  that  in  due 
time  the  city  with  its  inhabitants,  and  all  the  adjacent 
territory,  shall  return  to  their  former  place,  and  the 
waters  of  the  gulf  shall  recede  into  the  ocean ;  and 
that  all  who  have  joined  the  Order  of  Enoch  shall 
then  be  gathered  into  the  city  and  live  with  Enoch  in 
great  splendor  for  a  thousand  years.  The  members 
of  this  order  are  to  convey  all  their  property,  both 


ADDRESS  TO  THE  CHURCHES.  179 

real  and  personal,  to  the  president  thereof,  who  is 
also  the  president  of  the  Church.  They  are  to  bind 
themselves  to  unpaid  labor  for  the  benefit  of  the  or- 
der. They  are  to  dress  in  the  coarsest  and  plainest 
apparel,  and  live  upon  the  plainest  food  that  will  give 
a  subsistence.  The  entire  proceeds  of  their  labor  is 
to  go  into  the  treasury  of  the  order,  and  whatever 
they  require  to  meet  the  necessities  of  life  can  only 
be  drawn  from  that  treasury  upon  the  order  of  the 
proper  officer. 

.  Now,  as  ridiculous  as  all  this  may  appear,  yet  it  is 
only  about  twelve  years  since  Brigham  Young  and 
his  associates  entered  upon  a  special  campaign  in 
Utah,  having  for  its  object  the  extension  of  the  order 
throughout  the  kingdom  ;  public  meetings  were  held 
in  every  city,  town,  and  ward  ;  the  greatest  excite- 
ment prevailed,  and  the  "  Lord's  Vicegerent  "  came 
very  near  getting  possession  of  nearly  all  the  prop- 
erty of  the  saints.  He  undoubtedly  would  have  done 
so  but  for  the  storm  of  ridicule  with  which  the  move- 
ment was  met  by  the  Gentile  press  of  Salt  Lake  City 
and  vicinity  and  by  the  non-Mormon  people  gener- 
ally in  all  that  region. 

Wow,  what  can  be  said  of  the  intellectual  status  of 
a  people  capable  of  being  thus  deluded  ?    In  fact,  the 


180  THE  MORMON  PROBLEM. 

more  monstrous  the  humbug  proposed  by  the  priest- 
hood, the  more  ready  their  followers  have  seemed  to 
accept  it.  The  author  has  heard  so  much  about  the 
intelligence  and  morality  which  Mormoriism  tends  to 
promote,  that,  had  he  not  been  possessed  of  personal 
knowledge  of  the  facts,  he  would  have  been  led  to 
believe  that  the  "  latter  day  Zion "  was  a  great  im- 
provement upon  the  world's  civilization  ;  but  the  fact 
that  any  people  can  read  and  then  accept  the  "  Book 
of  Mormon"  as  an  inspired  volume,  is  a  sufficient 
commentary  upon  their  intelligence. 

In  fact,  it  was  only  about  twenty  years  ago  that 
the  hierarchy  introduced  a  new  alphabet,  and  made  the 
effort  to  supersede  the  Roman  alphabet  altogether ; 
school  books  were  published  in  the  new  character, 
and  children  were  taught  to  use  it.  The  object  was 
to  cut  off  their  people  from  all  connection  with  En- 
glish literature.  Utah  is  wholly  indebted  to  the  Mis- 
sion Churches  for  free  schools,  and,  in  fact,  for  any 
schools  whatever  of  reputation  and  efficiency.  The 
literature  of  the  Church  is  another  indication  of  the 
intellectual  status  of  the  people.  I  challenge  the 
most  zealous  advocate  of  Mormonism  to  mention  a 
single  book  that  has  been  produced  by  the  saints  that 
would  be  read  in  any  intelligent  community.  In  a 


ADDRESS  TO  THE  CHURCHES.  181 

word,  ignorance  and  superstition  are  among  the  most 
prominent  characteristics  of  the  saints. 

Still  more  has  been  said  in  praise  of  the  moral  con- 
dition of  the  Mormon  people  ;  and  it  has  been  still 
more  untruthfully  said.  Such  a  system  as  Mormon- 
ism  cannot  beget  a  high  grade  of  moral  excellence 
among  any  people,  still  less  among  the  classes  that 
have  been  gathered  as  converts  from  the  slums  of  the 
Old  World.  Mormonism  breeds  immorality  as  nat- 
urally and  as  inevitably  as  carrion  breeds  pestilence, 
or  a  malarious  district  breeds  fever.  It  has  especially 
.been  claimed  that  temperance  is  one  of  the  crowning 
virtues  in  Utah.  It  is  not  true.  Church  liquor 
stores,  bearing  the  sign  of  Z.  C.  M.  I.,  with  the  All- 
seeing  Eye  and  "  Holiness  to  the  Lord "  inscribed 
thereon,  can  be  found  every-where  throughout  the 
kingdom.  The  author  once  saw  a  prophet,  one  of 
their  bright  and  shining  lights,  standing  on  a  street- 
corner  holding  to  a  lamp-post,  swinging  a  bottle  of 
whisky  around  his  head  and  calling  the  saints  around 
him  to  drink.  The  next  Sabbath  he  administered  the 
sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper  at  Provo,  and,  after 
the  service,  went  into  the  hay-field  to  do  an  after- 
noon's work. 

He  also  saw  Porter  Rockwell,  one  of  the  Danite 


182  THE  MOEMON  PIIOBLEM. 

chiefs,  stand  upon  the  street  in  Provo,  and  for  more 
than  half  an  hour  he  shouted  at  the  top  of  his  voice 
the  most  blasphemous  oaths  and  the  filthiest  and  most 
obscene  language  that  mortal  ever  uttered.  He  had 
become  enraged  by  the  running  away  of  his  pair  of 
horses  while  he  was  drinking  and  carousing  in  a  ho- 
tel. The  saints  gathered  about  him  in  large  num- 
bers, and  laughed  and  applauded  and  cheered  till  the 
disgusting  spectacle  ended.  And  when  Porter  Rock- 
well died  he  was  extolled  and  eulogized  by  the  Mor- 
mon orators  as  one  of  the  most  excellent  saints  in  all 
the  earth. 

There  is  to-day  more  of  profanity,  more  of  drunk- 
enness, more  of  Sabbath-breaking,  and  vastly  more  of 
licentiousness  among  the  Latter  Day  Saints  than  can 
be  found  in  any  community  of  equal  numbers  in  any 
civilized  country  on  the  globe.  There  has  been  so 
much  of  praise  and  flattery  of  the  saints,  bought  and 
paid  for  with  Mormon  gold  and  published  to  the 
world  as  fact,  that  it  is  time  somebody  told  the  exact 
truth ;  and  I  appeal  to  the  non-Mormon  people  of 
Utah  in  support  of  what  I  have  here  written.  I 
have  not  been  describing  the  condition  of  things 
among  a  select  circle  of  the  better  class  of  Mormons 
in  Salt  Lake  City ;  nor  the  rosy  .side  of  Mormon  life 


ADDRESS  TO  THE  CHURCHES.  183 

which  the  transient  visitor  beholds,  but  the  general 
condition  as  to  morals  in  the  Territory. 

What  adds  to  the  difficulty  of  missionary  labor  is, 
the  fact  that  this  condition  of  things  has  the  tolera- 
tion, if  not  the  sanction,  of  the  prevalent  religion. 
These  people  have  been  instructed  by  their  leaders 
that  they  are  exempt  from  the  prohibitions  of  God's 
moral  law,  and  are  at  liberty  to  do  very  much  as 
they  please ;  and  that  the  sins  and  vices  in  which 
they  indulge  are  not  inconsistent  with  the  way  of 
life,  nor  displeasing  to  God  as  regards  his  favored 
people. 

But  the  greatest  difficulty  of  all  is,  the  utter  de- 
struction of  all  confidence  and  belief  in  religion  that 
occurs  in  almost  every  case  when  a  man  abandons 
Mormonism. 

Soon  after  Mrs.  Stenhouse  u  apostatized,"  the  writer 
chanced  to  meet  her  on  board  a  railway  train.  He 
said  to  her  that  he  hoped  she  would  find  a  Church 
home  with  some  of  the  Gentile  Churches  in  Salt 
Lake  City.  She  replied  instantly :  "  Do  not  mention 
religion  to  me,  please.  It  has  been  the  curse  of  my 
life ;  it  has  crushed  me  to  the  earth  and  broken  my 
heart ;  I  do  not  feel  that  I  can  bear  to  hear  it  men- 
tioned for  twenty  years  to  come.  After  a  little  I 


184  THE  MORMON  PROBLEM. 

may  feel  differently,  but  for  awhile  I  must  have  a 
rest:'' 

She  expressed,  I  think,  the  general  feeling  of  apos- 
tates when  they  relinquish  their  hold  upon  the  Mor- 
mon faith.  They  cannot  for  a  time  turn  to  any  other 
faith ;  all  faith  is  lost  for  awhile.  In  the  case  just  re- 
ferred to,  the  religious  yearnings  of  the  lady's  nature 
revived  again,  and  she  found  rest  at  last  in  the  fellow- 
ship and  communion  of  a  Christian  Church. 

Outside  the  Mormon  Church  there  is  still  an- 
other class  demanding  the  interest  and  sympathy  of 
the  Christian  Church;  we  refer  to  the  Gentiles  of  the 
Territory.  In  Salt  Lake  City  there  are,  perhaps, 
about  seven  or  eight  thousand.  A  few  are  scattered 
among  the  valleys  of  Utah,  and  the  mining  towns 
and  camps  are  populated  almost  wholly  by  them. 
They  are  men  of  noble  hearts  and  generous  natures, 
looking  with  supreme  contempt  upon  any  kind  of  a 
religious  fraud,  and  ready  to  assist  with  their  money 
and  in  any  other  way  in  promoting  the  work  of 
Christian  civilization.  If  some  of  them  are  given  to 
vices  and  to  the  reprehensible  customs  that  prevail 
on  the  frontier,  still  they  do  not  at  the  same  time 
profess  to  be  "  saints,"  nor  claim  to  be  the  only 
people  of  God  on  earth.  They  are  open  to  convic- 


ADDRESS  TO  THE  CHURCHES.  185 

tion  and  are  susceptible  to  Christian  influences.  The 
author  once  held  a  religious  service  on  the  Sabbath 
day  in  a  drinking  saloon  and  gambling  hell  in  the 
Oquirrh  mountains,  and  saw  his  audience  in  tears  as 
the  recollections  and  associations  of  other  days  were 
revived  by  the  exercises.  At  the  close  of  the  service 
they  voluntarily  gave  him  a  collection  of  one  hundred 
and  twenty-five  dollars  in  aid  of  his  school  at  Provo. 

At  another  time  a  man  who  kept  a  saloon  at  Provo 
heard  some  Mormons  concoct  a  plan  to  take  the 
writer  out  of  his  pulpit  on  the  next  Sabbath  evening 
and  mob  him.  Whereupon  he  gathered  some  of  his 
associates,  went  down  to  the  church  armed  to  the 
teeth,  gathered  about  the  preacher  while  he  preached, 
escorted  him  home,  and  protected  him  through  the 
night.  The  next  morning  he  said:  "Parson,  we 
can't  preach  and  we  can't  pray ;  I  am  afraid  we  don't 
know  much  about  religion  any  way ;  but  if  there  is 
any  fighting  to  be  done,  we  can  do  a  heap!  You 
go  on  with  the  preaching  and  with  the  school,  and 
we'll  see  you  through ! "  and  they  did,  in  many  a 
stormy  time  afterward.  Concerning  all  these  classes 
—the  mountaineers,  the  miners,  the  business  and  pro- 
fessional men  of  Utah — the  Christian  Church  bears  a 
heavy  responsibility ;  it  is  that  of  saving  them  from 


186  THE  MOKMON  PEOBLEM. 

the  infidelity  which  the  religions  fraud  in  their  midst 
tends  to  create,  and  from  the  vices  that  attend  in  a 
greater  or  less  degree  all  frontier  life. 

But,  after  all,  the  great  hope  for  Utah  in  the  future 
lies  with  the  children  and  the  young  people.  These 
are  more  easily  reached  and  benefited.  The  Christian 
schools  are  doing  a  work,  more  fruitful  for  good  than 
any  other  agency  ;  and  the  great  demand  in  Utah  is 
for  such  schools.  If  twenty  more  free  schools  could 
be  at  once  established  in  as  many  central  locations, 
be  manned  with  teachers  who  could  also  hold  relig- 
ious services  and  perform  Christian  missionary  work, 
and  be  abundantly  sustained,  they  would,  in  the 
opinion  of  the  writer,  accomplish  more  good  than 
three  times  that  number  of  churches  without  schools. 
What  a  field  in  which  the  philanthropists  of  the 
nation  may  employ  their  wealth  in  doing  good ! 

All  hail  to  the  noble  men  and  women  who  have  so 
nobly  engaged  in  the  work  of  Christian  missions  in 
Utah ;  who  have,  in  the  midst  of  such  dark  sur- 
roundings, given  themselves  to  this  work.  In  trials 
and  privations,  in  sacrifices  and  hardships  almost  un- 
precedented, in  peril  of  life  and  in  dangers  seen  and 
unseen,  "they  "have  stood  at  their  posts  until  their 
work  has  at  last  gained  a  foothold  from  which  it  shall 


ADDRESS  TO  THE  CHURCHES.  1ST 

«*• 

never  be  dislodged.  Let  the  nation  but  do  its  duty, 
and  the  Churches  of  America  shall  surely  reclaim 
and  save  Utah. 

No  work  of  this  kind  is  deserving  of  more  sym- 
pathy and  aid.  Utah  is  a  foreign  mission  lield  come 
to  our  own  shores.  No  tedious  voyages  to  distant 
lands  to  reach  it ;  no  wasting  of  years  in  mastering 
languages  and  dialects  in  order  to  cultivate  it ;  but 
containing  all  the  darkness  and  sin  and  wretchedness 
that  exist  in  any  field  beyond  the  seas.  Shall  there 
be  less  of  effort  to  Christianize  the  very  heart  of  our 
own  country  than  we  would  give  to  the  same  people 
were  they  located  in  a  foreign  land  ? 

The  author  once  beheld  a  glorious  sight  in  Utali. 
It  was  late  in  the  autumn,  and  what  seldom  occurs  in 
that  country  occurred  that  day — a  dense  cloud  settled 
down  upon  the  valleys.  A  little  party  of  us  ascended 
one  of  the  highest  mountains,  and  the  cloud  was  very 
far  below  us.  The  whole  earth  was  completely  hid- 
den from  our  view,  save  the  tops  of  the  mountains, 
which  seemed  to  be  islands  of  solid  rock  floating  in 
mid-air.  We  are  accustomed  to  look  upon  the  side 
of  clouds  that  the  sun  does  not  shine  upon,  and  only 
now  and  then  see  a  silver  lining,  or  at  morning  and 
evening  the  painting  of  his  matchless  colors ;  but 


188  THE  MORMON  PROBLEM. 

4 

these  heavens  were  below  us.  At  times  it  was  like  a 
floor  of  variegated  marble  stretching  away,  on  every 
side,  to  the  extent  of  our  vision.  At  times  it  was  as 
the  mingling  of  all  the  colors  of  a  gorgeous  sunset, 
and  the  cloud,  flashing  back  the  rays  of  the  sun, 
seemed  like  a  sea  of  glass  mingled  with  fire ;  above 
us  was  the  clear  sky.  We  thought  that  the  angels 
must  have  looked  upon  the  scene  with  admiration. 
But  when  we  descended  again  into  the  valley  it  was 
dark  almost  as  night,  and  cold  and  drear.  We  wished 
that  the  sunlight  above  might  penetrate  the  cloud, 
and  flood  the  valley  with  its  splendors. 

Utah  is  to  day  enveloped  in  a  cloud  of  darkness 
and  oppression  and  crime  more  dense  than  that  we 
looked  upon  from  the  mountain-top.  As  the  light  of 
our  Christian  land  falls  upon  it,  it  reflects  back  no 
splendors.  It  is  needed  that  the  burning  rays  of  the 
Sun  of  Kighteousness  should  penetrate  the  cloud  and 
dispel  it.  For  this  may  the  prayers  of  the  Church 
ascend,  and  for  this  all  needed  aid  be  given  ! 


NOTE.— See  page  ISO. 

The  following  is  from  Orson  Pratt : 

"  The  fleshly  body  of  Jesus  required  a  mother  as  well  as  a 
father.  Therefore  the  father  and  mother  of  Jesus,  according 
to  the  flesh,  must  have  been  associated  together  in  the  capac- 
ity of  husband  and  wife ;  hence  the  Virgin  Mary  must  have 
been  for  the  time  being  the  lawful  wife  of  God  the  Father. 
We  use  the  term  lawful  wife,  because  it  would  be  blasphemous 
in  the  highest  degree  to  say  that  he  overshadowed  her  or  begat 
a  child  of  her  unlawfully.  ...  It  was  also  lawful  in  him, 
after  having  thus  dealt  with  Mary,  to  give  her  to  Joseph,  her 
espoused  husband.  Whether  God  the  Father  gave  Mary  to 
Joseph  for  time  only,  or  for  time  and  eternity,  we  are  not 
informed.  Inasmuch  as  God  was  the  first  husband  to  her,  it 
may  be  that  he  only  gave  her  to  be  the  wife  of  Joseph  while 
in  this  mortal  state,  and  that  he  intended  after  the  resurrec- 
tion to  again  take  her  as  one  of  his  own  wives,  to  raise  up 
immortal  spirits  in  eternity."* 

The  theory  is  further,  that  Jesus,  wnile  upon  earth,  was  a 
polygamist,  having  many  wives,  of  which  Mary  and  Martha 
were  two  ;  and  that  at  Cana  of  Galilee,  where  he  wrought  his 
first  miracle  by  turning  water  into  wine,  he  was  himself  mar- 
ried to  another.  We  quote  again  from  Orson  Pratt : 

*'  One  thing  is  certain,  that  there  were  several  holy  women 
*  "  The  Seer,"  p.  158. 


190  THE  MORMON  PROBLEM — NOTE. 

that  greatly  loved  Jesus — such  as  Mary,  and  Martha  her  sister, 
and  Mary  Magdalene.  If  all  the  acts  of  Jesus  were  writ- 
ten, we,  no  doubt,  should  learn  that  these  women  were  his 
wives."  * 

The  following  is  from  Orson  Hyde,  president  of  the  twelve 
apostles : 

"  Jesus  was  the  bridegroom  at  the  marriage  of  Cana  of  Gal- 
ilee. Now  there  was  actually  a  marriage;  and  if  Jesus  was 
not  the  bridegroom  on  that  occasion,  please  tell  who  was. 
We  say  it  was  Jesus,  who  was  married  to  be  brought  into  the 
relation  whereby  he  could  see  his  seed,  before  lie  was  crucified. 
I  shall  say  here,  that  before  the  Saviour  died  he  looked  upon 
his  own  natural-  children  as  we  look  upon  ours.  He  saw 
his  seed,  and  immediately  after  that  he  was  cut  off  from  the 
earth,  "f 

The  writer  once  heard  Orson  Pratt,  in  a  sermon  two  hours 
long,  use  language  like  this : 

"  How  blessed  it  will  be  in  the  last  day  to  see  Abraham  and 
Isaac  and  Jacob,  with  all  their  wives  and  all  their  children ; 
the  prophets,  with  all  their  wives  and  all  their  children ;  Jesus 
Christ  and  Peter  and  John,  with  all  their  wives  and  all  their 
children ;  Joseph  Smith  and  Brigham  Young,  and  you  and  I, 
with  all  our  children,  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  and 
sit  down  to  the  marriage  supper  of  the  Lamb,  and  go  no  more 
out  forever." 

*  kt  The  Seer,"  p.  159.       t  "  Journals  of  Discourses,"  vol.  ii,  pp.  79-82. 


APPENDIX. 


NOTE. 


THE  four  stories  which  follow  are  founded  wholly  upon 
fact.  They  were  written  and  published  some  time  previous 
to  the  preparation  of  this  book  for  the  press,  which  accounts 
for  any  slight  repetition  of  matter  contained  in  the  preceding 
pages. 

I  insert  them  in  this  volume  because  they  afford  so  clear 
an  illustration  of  many  facts  referred  to  in  the  body  of 

the  work. 

C.  P.  L. 


LIVING    IT    OUT. 

A  STORY  OF  MORMON  LIFE. 


THE  habitable  portions  of  Utah  consist  of  a  chain 
of  beautiful  valleys,  beginning  with  Salt  Lake  Valley 
on  the  north  and  extending  southward  to  Arizona.  At 
a  point  about  twenty-five  miles  below  Salt  Lake  City 
the  mountains  close  in  on  either  side,  leaving  only 
a  narrow  pass  through  which  comes  the  Jordan  River 
from  Utah  Lake,  and  through  which  the  Utah  South- 
ern Railroad  and  the  general  highway  to  the  whole 
southern  part  of  the  Territory  have  been  constructed. 
Passing  through  this  defile  the  traveler  will  find, 
however,  that  the  mountains  immediately  stretch 
away  again  on  either  hand,  leaving  another  valley 
about  eighty  miles  in  length  by  thirty  wide.  This  is 
by  far  the  most  lovely  part  of  Utah.  On  its  eastern 
side  rises  the  bold  and  precipitous  Wasatch  range, 
while  on  its  western  side  may  be  seen  the  more  acces- 
sible summits  of  the  Oquirrh  mountains.  In  its  very 

center  lies  Utah  Lake,  a  body  of  fresh  water  about 
13 


194         THE  MOKMON  PKOBLEM — APPENDIX. 

thirty  miles  in  length  by  seven  in  width,  abounding 
in  the  finest  California  mountain  trout,  and  affording 
a  place  of  rendezvous  for  the  innumerable  flocks  of 
ducks,  wild  geese,  brant,  and  other  water-fowl  of  that 
region.  The  surface  of  the  valley  is  as  smocth  and 
level  as  that  of  the  lake  itself,  except  that  from  either 
side  there  is  a  gentle  slope  toward  the  center,  by 
which  the  great  abundance  of  water  coming  from  the 
mountains  is  easily  utilized  in  irrigating  the  land. 
The  soil  is  thus  made  productive  in  the  highest  de- 
gree ;  fruits  of  great  variety,  and  exceedingly  rich 
and  delicious,  abounjl  ;  the  little  farms  of  the  Mor- 
.mon  settlers  yield,  with  but  little  cultivation,  bounti- 
ful crops  of  wrheat,  rye,  barley,  and  potatoes,  while 
the  foot-hills  of  the  mountains  afford  ample  pastur- 
age for  immense  flocks  of  sheep  and  herds  of  cattle. 
There  is  probably  no  spot  on  the  globe  where  a  more 
desirable  climate  can  be  found,  and  certainly  none 
where  a  greater  variety  of  grand  and  beautiful 
scenery  may  be  enjoyed.  Viewed  from  some  one  of 
the  high  peaks  of  the  Wasatch  mountains,  it  presents 
a  scene  of  inexpressible  loveliness,  and  seems  almost 
like  a  patch  of  the  "  sweet  fields  of  living  green  " 
with  their  "  rivers  of  delight "  let  down  from  paradise 
to  earth. 


LIVING  IT  OUT.  195 

The  valley  contains  about  twenty  thousand  souls, 
of  which,  at  the  time  the  events  here  related  occurred, 
not  more  than  one  hundred  were  non-Mormons. 
These  were  located  chiefly  in  the  "  cities  "  of  Ameri- 
can Fork,  Provo,  Springville,  Spanish  Fork,  and  Pay- 
son,  owning  and  cultivating  the  lands  from  these  cen- 
tral points,  while  a  few  of  the  farming  population 
resided  upon  their  farms,  and  were  scattered  here 
and  there  at  considerable  distances  from  each  other. 

In  the  midst  of  these  surroundings  some  of  the 
darkest  deeds  in  Mormon  history  have  been  perpe- 
trated. It  was  in  this  valley  that  the  Aiken  brothers 
were  shot  "  till  every  muscle  in  their  bodies  ceased 
to  quiver" — one  of  the  most  atrocious  of  Mormon 
murders,  an  account  of  which,  gathered  from  reliable 
sources,  I  propose  soon  to  give  to  the  world.  It  was 
at  Provo  that  one  Brown  was  riddled  with  buck-shot 
as  he  walked  the  street,  not  more  than  a  block  from 
my  own  residence,  his  offense  being  insubordination 
to  the  priesthood.  It  was  here,  also,  that  poor  Carter, 
with  whom  I  was  intimately  acquainted,  was  hunted 
to  his  death  for  having  knowledge  of  damaging  facts 
concerning  Mormon  citizens,  of  which  it  was  sup- 
posed that  he  was  willing  to  testify  in  a  court  of  jus- 
tice. Here  also  the  Parrish  family  were  slain,  the 


196         THE  MORMON  PROBLEM — APPENDIX. 

exact  spot  where  they  met  their  death,  as  well  as  the 
manner  of  their  taking  off,  having!)  een  described  to 
me  by  an  old  apostate  Mormon.  At  Spring  ville,  six 
miles  farther  south,  the  Potters  were  killed  in  "  blood 
atonement"  for  their  sin  ;  and  at  Payson,  twrelve 
miles  still  farther  south,  one  Jones  was  murdered,  and 
his  uncoffined  body  dragged  through  the  streets  in  a 
wagon  surrounded  by  a  hooting  mob,  as  related  in 
the  book  of  Mrs.  Ann  Eliza  Young.  It  was  of  this 
beautiful  valley  that  an  old  "  apostate  "  Mormon  said 
to  me,  after  I  had  delivered  a  lecture  on  u  Brigham 
Young's  Record  of  Blood  :  "  "  Young  man,  you  may 
read  every  book,  search  the  records  of  courts,  review 
the  proclamations  of  public  officers,  get  the  confes- 
sions of  criminals  themselves,  and  ransack  creation 
for  facts — but  if  the  sage  brush  fields  and  canyons 
around  us  could  speak,  they  would  tell  of  deeds  of 
blood  of  which  the  world  will  never  know." 

I  had  taken  up  my  residence  at  Provo,  and  under 
great  difficulties  had  begun  the  work  of  establishing 
in  the  valley  churches,  schools,  libraries,  and  other 
appliances  of  Christian  civilization,  as  others  were 
doing  in  other  parts  of  the  Territory.  It  was  about 
the  time  that  the  appalling  facts  concerning  the 
Mountain  Meadows  massacre  first  began  to  appear  in 


LIVING  IT  OCT.  197 

the  newspapers,  and  public  opinion  in  the  States  was 
somewhat  stirred  against  the  Mormons,  and  the  lead- 
ers and  rulers  in  the  Church  felt  that  it  would  not 
answer  to  add  to  their  record  of  crime  by  further 
"cutting  off"  those  who  would  not  submit  to  them. 
Their  policy  was  rather  to  make  our  work  so  hard 
and  difficult  of  success  that  we  should  become  dis- 
couraged, abandon  it,  and  leave  the  Territory.  Par- 
ticularly did  they  use  their  utmost  endeavors  to  excite 
the  people  to  the  highest  degree  of  bitterness  and 
prejudice  against  us;  so  that  while  we  did  not  hesi- 
tate, and  indeed  found  it  absolutely  necessary,  to  deal 
unsparingly  with  the  monstrous  system  of  crime  and 
outrage  which  had  so  long  protected  itself  under 
the  name  of  religion  ;  yet  we  also  found  it  necessary 
to  use  great  caution  in  antagonizing  the  home  life 
that  prevailed  around  us,  lest  we  should  defeat  the 
end  we  sought  of  bringing  upon  these  homes  Chris- 
tianizing influences.  Nevertheless,  occasions  would 
arise  when  it  was  not  in  human  nature  to  be  silent, 
and  when,  come  what  would,  one  could  not  be  inact- 
ive. It  was  of  such  an  occasion  that  I  propose  now 
to  give  an  account. 

I  had  gone  up  the  valley  to  Payson  for  the  purpose 
of  holding  my  first  religious  service  in  that  town. 


198        THE  MORMON  PROBLEM — APPENDIX. 

Indeed,  it  was  the  first  service  of  any  kind  other  than 
that  of  the  Mormon  Church,  ever  held  there.  I  was 
accompanied  from  Provo  by  my  wife  and  a  party  of 
four  or  five  ladies  and  gentlemen  who  were  to  assist 
in  the  meeting  that  it  was  proposed  to  hold,  and 
whose  presence  it  was  thought  would  be  a  protection 
to  me,  particularly  as  one  of  them  was  a  judge  of 
the  Supreme  Court  of  Utah.  The  meeting  was  to  be 
held  in  a  hall  owned  by  an  "  apostate,"  who  had  pur- 
chased it  for  the  express  purpose  of  affording  a  place 
of  gathering  for  those  who  might  wish  at  any  time 
*to  meet  in  the  interests  of  Americanism  in  Utah. 
As  we  arrived  about  an  hour  before  the  time  ap- 
pointed for  the  service,  we  availed  ourselves  of  the 
parlors  of  a  little  Mormon  hotel  that  stood  just  across 
the  street  from  the  hall. 

While  waiting  here  for  the  hour  to  pass,  I  saw  a 
woman  frequently  approach  the  window  from  the 
outside  and  earnestly  watch  our  little  party,  carefully 
scanning  each  person  in  turn,  and  who,  when  found 
that  she  was  observed,  would  dodge  out  of  sight  for  a 
time,  only  to  come  again  after  a  few  minutes  had 
elapsed.  As  more  or  less  of  excitement  and  interest 
had  been  awakened  in  the  town  by  this  appointment, 
I  thought  it  could  be  nothing  more  than  curiosity 


LIVING  IT  OUT.  199 

aroused  in  the  mind  of  some  Mormon  woman  to 
see  a  party  of  "  Gentiles,"  and  especially  a  Gentile 
preacher,  who  had  visited  the  place  for  the  purpose 
announced. 

At  last  the  time  arrived  for  us  to  go  to  the  hall, 
and  I  arose  and  stepped  from  the  parlor,  when  the 
woman  whom  I  had  noticed  entered  the  front  door 
and  approached  me  in  an  excited  manner,  asking  if 
I  was  the  "  preacher."  I  answered  that  I  was. 
"Well,"  said  she,  "I  desire  a  short  interview  with 
you  and  your  party:  I  must  see  you  and  tell  you 
what  I  have  to  say,  or  I  shall  die." 

I  said :  "  My  good  woman,  what  you  ask  is  impos- 
sible. This  is  our  first  visit  to  your  town;  this  is  the 
first  meeting  of  the  kind  ever  held  here;  it  is  now 
time  to  commence  the  service  ;  the  Mormon  people 
are  somewhat  excited  and  curious,  and  their  eyes 
are  upon  us  from  every  quarter ;  at  the  close  of  the 
service  the  carriage  will  be  in  waiting  at  the  door  to 
convey  us  immediately  to  Provo;  we  cannot  attend 
to  any  matter  at  this  time,  save  the  work  we  came  to 
perform." 

"  I  tell  you,"  said  she,  "  that  I  must  see  you,  or  I 
shall  die,"  and,  as  a  look  of  piteous  appeal  came  into 
her  face  she  cried,  "  I  ask  you  to  save  my  life,  and 


200         THE  MORMON  PROBLEM — APPENDIX. 

perhaps  my  soul.  If  I  cannot  see  you  here  I  must 
come  to  Provo  to-morrow.  I  must  have  assistance 
from  some  source  or  I  am  lost ;  I  can't  live  and  I 
wont  live,  and  in  all  this  world  I  have  no  friend  to 
help  me."  She  had  caught  hold  of  my  coat  with 
both  her  hands;  the  tears  were  streaming  down  her 
face ;  she  was  evidently  in  the  deepest  distress,  and, 
turning  to  the  ladies  of  our  party,  she  appealed  most 
earnestly  to  them  for  sympathy  and  aid.  We  finally 
agreed  to  meet  her  the  next  day  at  the  parsonage  in 
Provo. 

At  the  conclusion  of  our  service  we  started  im- 
mediately for  our  home  in  that  Mormon  stronghold. 
Our  meeting  had  been  successful ;  we  were  in  the 
best  of  spirits ;  the  night  was  exquisitely  fine ;  there 
had  not  been  a  cloud  in  that  sky  for  many  months : 

"  The  moon's  silver  hair  lay  uncurled, 
Down  the  broad-breasted  mountains  away." 

The  cool  delicious  air,  entirely  free  from  moisture 
and  untainted  by  any  malarial  or  other  poisonous 
exhalation  from  mother  earth,  was  most  exhilarating ; 
but  a  little  distance  away  the  grand  old  mountains 
stood,  like  sentinels  to  some  and  prison  walls  to 
others  in  that  valley,  but  with  hearts  of  gold  and 


LIVING  IT  OUT.  201 

veins  of  silver,  and  sending  down  refreshing  currents 
of  atmosphere  to  all,  were  a  constant  source  of  inspi- 
ration and  blessing.  Notwithstanding  all  this,  I  could 
see  but  little  else  than  that  piteous,  friendless,  heart- 
broken look  of  appeal ;  could  hear  but  little  save  that 
cry  of  distress :  "  I  ask  you  to  save  my  life,  and  per- 
haps my  soul."  The  woman  became  the  theme  of 
our  conversation,  as  she  was  the  object  of  our  interest 
and  curiosity. 

We  assembled  the  next  day  at  the  parsonage  at  the 
appointed  hour,  and  Awaited  the  arrival  of  the  stage. 
It  came  in  due  season,  and  the  woman  alighted  and 
entered  the  house.  We  had  now  a  better  opportu- 
nity of  observing  her.  She  was  very  plainly  dressed, 
but  womanly  in  her  bearing.  She  was  avidently 
about  forty  years  of  age,  and  her  countenance,  and 
especially  her  eye,  indicated  more  than  average  intel- 
ligence ;  but  there  was  a  look  of  utter  misery  blended 
with  that  of  some  fierce  resolution  in  her  face. 
Presently  she  said : 

"  I  have  come  eighteen  miles  to-day  to  tell  you  my 
story,  and  to  ask  if  there  is  any  help  for  me.  Twenty 
years  ago  I  lived  in  Illinois.  I  was  an  only  daughter, 
and  without  other  near  relatives  than  my  father  and 
mother,  who  have  both  since  died.  I  married  a  gen- 


202        THE  MORMON  PROBLEM — APPENDIX. 

tleman  whom  I  had  known  for  several  years.  He 
had  previously  embraced  the  Mormon  faith,  and  pro- 
posed to  come  to  Utah.  My  parents  bitterly  opposed 
my  marriage.  But  I  loved  this  man.  I  would  have 
married  him  if  he  had  became  a  Mohammedan.  I 
would  have  married  him  to  go  to  the  ends  of  the 
earth  writh  him.  I  would  have  married  him  if  all  the 
earth  had  cursed  me  for  it.  I  exacted  of  him  only 
one  promise,  namely,  that  while  I  lived  he  should 
never  take  another  wife.  He  solemnly  gave  me  the 
promise  before  God,  and  I  would  have  trusted  him 
if  all  the  angels  of  heaven  had  told  me  that  he  would 
break  it.  For  nineteen  years  he  kept  it.  I  had  no 
reason  to  regret  my  course.  He  cared  for  me  ten- 
derly and  I  was  very  happy.  But  about  a  year  ago, 
the  blow  that  falls  cooner  or  later  upon  so  many 
trusting  hearts,  fell  upon  me.  I  think  it  was  in  part 
the  debasing  influence  of  his  religion,  of  the  prevail- 
ing state  of  society,  and  of  the  general  wickedness  of 
this  unhappy  Territory.  Still  I  think  he  would  have 
withstood  these  if  he  had  been  let  alone.  But  the 
priesthood  were  eternally  dinging  into  his  ears  the 
duty  of  "  celestial  marriage,"  as  they  termed  it,  and 
that,  too,  under  the  penalty  of  eternal  damnation.  At 
last  they  laid  their  commands  upon  him.  He  must 


LIVING  IT  OUT.  203 

obey  or  disobey.  He  knew  that  to  disobey  would 
mean  a  foreign  mission  field  for  years;  or  to  be 
dispossessed  of  his  property,  and  deprived  of  all  favor 
and  patronage  of  the  Church,  which  meant  starva- 
tion ;  or  to  be  put  under  the  ban  every  way  and  be 
driven  to  Arizona  or  some  other  remote  and  desolate 
locality. 

"I  would  have  been  torn  with  wild  beasts  or 
would  have  sunk  to  the  flames  of  hell  to  endure 
their  torments,  before  I  would  have  broken  his 
heart.  But  he  yielded.  About  a  year  ago  he  brought 
to  my  home  his  second  wife.  Then  all  his  manhood 
rapidly  disappeared.  No  man  can  live  in  polygamy 
and  be  a  man.  In  one  year  my  husband  had  become 
a  mere  beast.  His  new  wife  is  young  and  handsome. 
She  receives  all  his  attention.  She  is  the  woman  of 
the  house ;  I  am  a  mere  servant.  She  takes  her  ease ; 
I  do  her  washing  and  my  own,  cook  all  her  meals, 
and  perform  all  the  drudgery.  My  husband  is  dead 
to  me.  He  will  listen  to  no  appeal  and  is  touched 
by  none  of  my  sufferings.  My  husband's  manner 
indicates  that  if  I  annoy  him  further  by  my  com- 
plaints he  may  beat  me.  If  he  strikes  me  I  know  I 
shall  go  raving  mad.  I  can't  endure  this  any  longer; 
I  wont  endure  it.  If  there  is  any  way  out  for  me, 


20J:        THE  MORMON  PROBLEM — APPENDIX. 

tell  me.  If  there  is  none,  I  swear  by  the  God  above 
me  to  find  a  way  out  through  the  gates  of  death, 
before  I  am  a  day  older." 

The  woman  shook  violently ;  her  countenance  had 
become  wild,  and  her  eyes  glowed  like  those  of  a  wild 
beast  brought  to  bay.  There  was  no  trifling  here. 
She  meant  every  word  she  said ;  she  was  evidently  a 
woman,  and  all  her  womanhood  stood  ready  to  de- 
fend itself  from  further  degradation.  I  have  no 
'doubt  that  she  would  have  committed  suicide  within 
twenty-four  hours  had  we  turned  her  away.  I  was 
greatly  embarrassed.  My  work  was  almost  impossible 
of  success.  The  persecution  and  trouble  that  arose 
from  the  Mormon  priesthood  and  their  tools  were 
well-nigh  unbearable.  I  was  not  there  to  champion 
the  cause  of  distressed  Mormon  wives  and  make  war 
upon  their  family  relations,  except  as  I  could  do  it 
in  a  more  general  way.  But  I  felt,  as  this  poor  des- 
olate creature  stood  before  us  without  a  friend  on 
earth  to  assist  her,  that  if  we  turned  our  backs  upon 
her  we  could  never  look  our  Master  in  the  face.  I  so 
expressed  myself,  and  my  friends  agreed  with  me. 
There  were  but  two  other  gentlemen  present,  and 
from  their  circumstances  they  could  not  take  the 
matter  in  hand,  and  therefore  I  did  so. 


LIVING  IT  Our.  205 

It  was  a  clear  case  for  a  divorce  and  alimony. 
This  woman  was  a  legal  wife.  Her  husband  was 
living  openly  with  another  woman.  All  the  facts 
could  be  clearly  enough  established.  Her  husband 
had  some  property,  so  that  such  an  amount  of  ali- 
mony might  be  decreed  as,  joined  with  what  she 
might  be  able  to  earn  in  various  ways,  would  make 
her  and  her  three  children  comfortable.  A  home 
could  be  provided  for  her  at  Provo,  where  there 
were  a  few  non-Mormon  families. 

It  so  occurred  that  there  was  present  that  day  in 
the  city  a  prominent  attorney  from  Salt  Lake  City. 
LTpon  being  made  acquainted  with  the  facts  he  read- 
ily agreed  to  take  charge  of  the  case  without  com- 
pensation. The  proper  officers  also  consented  to 
serve  the  necessary  papers  without  fees,  and  the 
action  was  duly  brought. 

Thereupon  was  a  stir  in  Mormondom.  The  priest- 
hood feared  the  influence  of  the  woman's  example  and 
determined  to  counteract  it.  They  seemed  to  hold 
me  responsible  for  the  steps  that  had  been  taken,  and 
labored  zealously  to  impress  their  people  that  I  had 
come  among  them  to  stir  up  strife  and  alienate  hus- 
bands and  wives,  and  interfere  with  their  happiness 
and  prosperity. 


206        THE  MORMON  PROBLEM — APPENDIX. 

Orson  Pratt,  the  "  great  apostle  "  and  special  advo- 
cate of  polygamy  came  to  Provo  and  delivered  a  ser- 
mon, in  which  he.  assailed  the  denomination  I  repre- 
sented, most  vehemently  denounced  me  personally, 
and  attacked  my  work  with  great  bitterness.  He 
then  proceeded  to  defend  "  celestial  marriage,"  and 
declared  "  that  these  vile  Gentiles  and  inhabitants  of 
Babylon,  who  came  among  them  to  destroy  their 
families  and  ruin  their  souls,  should  be  taught  that 
there  was  no  room  for  them  among  the  people  of 
God." 

The  next  Sabbath  I  reviewed  his  statements  in  my 
own  pulpit,  answered  his  arguments  on  polygamy  as 
best  I  could,  cited  the  past  history  of  the  Mormons 
as  it  related  to  those  who  differed  from  them,  and 
in  reply  to  his  denunciations  gave  them  my  defiance, 
expressing  my  determination  thereafter  to  give  and 
take  as  hard  blows  as  could  be  delivered. 

Then  followed  more  direct  efforts  at  intimidation. 
The  poor  woman  came  in  great  trepidation  to  my 
residence  one  day  and  informed  me  that  her  husband 
had  taken  down  his  gun,  loaded  it  with  buckshot,  and 
had  sworn  that  he  would  shoot  me  at  sight  if  I  did 
not  advise  her  to  withdraw  the  suit  from  the  courts. 
She  said  that  while  she  was  willing  to  imperil  her 


LIVING  IT  OUT.  207 

own  life,  she  was  not  wilfing  to  put  other  lives  in 
peril,  and  declared  that  she  was  ready  at  once  to  have 
proceedings  stopped  if  I  desired  it.  I  fear  that  I  am 
not  blessed  with  overmuch  physical  courage,  but  I 
well  knew  that  if  I  showed  any  disposition  to  yield 
to  threats,  in  that  or  any  other  matter,  my  work  in 
Utah  was  done.  I  therefore  told  her  to  return  to  her 
home  and  tell  her  husband  "  to  blaze  away  at  the  first 
opportunity.  But,"  I  added,  "tell  him  to  make 
sure  of  his  aim  at  the  first  fire,  for  I,  too,  have  a  talent 
for  shooting  that  I  have  consecrated  to  God,  and  I 
hope  to  use  it  effectively  in  his  service  if  occasion 
requires." 

Failing  in  these  measures  they  turned  upon  the 
poor  victim  who  was  seeking  her  escape  from  a 
living  death.  I  never  knew  precisely  how  she  was 
made  to  suffer,  nor  how  much  she  was  called  to 
endure,  for  she  esteemed  it  all  so  lightly  that  she 
would  never  complain  or  open  her  lips  to  in- 
form me. 

Meanwhile  the  time  drew  near  for  the  trial  of  the 
cause  in  Judge  M'Kean's  court  in  Salt  Lake  City. 
The  attorney  had  thoroughly  prepared  the  case  so 
that  there  was  not  the  least  obstacle  in  the  way  of  a 
successful  issue,  when  a  most  incredible  and  amazing 


208         THE  MORMON  PROBLEM — APPENDIX. 

thing  transpired.  The  woman  appeared  at  the  par- 
sonage and  demanded  that  I  should  have  the  suit 
withdrawn  and  all  proceedings  stopped!  I  was  re- 
ligiously (I  trust)  mad. 

I  said  to  her,  with  much  feeling  of  indignation : 
"What  does  this  mean?  You  came  to  us  with 
threats  of  suicide ;  at  some  expense  and  at  great 
trouble  we  undertook  your  cause  and  have  fought 
your  battle;  and  now,  just  upon  the  eve  of  vic- 
tory, you  come  and  insist  that  it  shall  all  be 
undone.  What  does  it  all  mean?  I  demand  to 
know." 

For  the  first  time  since  that  first  night  at  Payson 
she  wept,  and  in  her  agony  sunk  upon  the  floor.  She 
answered  :  "  You  have  a  right  to  know  the  reason  for 
my  conduct,  and  you  shall.  It  means  just  this :  the 
priesthood  have  threatened  to  kill  my  children  if  I 
proceed,  and  they  will  /  I  prefer  to  go  hack  and  live 
it  out" 

I  expostulated  with  her.  I  told  her  that  she  well 
knew  that  this  was  merely  a  threat  to  frighten  her 
from  her  course,  as  they  had  so  many  times  attempted 
to  frighten  me  and  others.  I  begged  of  her  not  to 
yield  herself  up  to  such  a  life  of  utter  misery,  now 
that  she  was  so  near  to  liberty.  I  assured  her  that 


LIVING  IT  OUT.  209 

the  court  and  her  friends  would  see  that  her  children 
were  protected. 

But  she  answered,  "  You  do  not  know  the  Mormon 
priesthood  as  I  know  it.  I  have  lived  in  Utah  nearly 
twenty  years.  I  know  what  I  say,  and  I  tell  you  that 
if  I  do  not  yield  now,  my  children  are  doomed.  I 
can't  be  the  destroyer  of  my  children.  I  prefer  to 
go  back  and  live  it  out." 

There  was  no  fire  in  her  eye  now.  There  was  a 
look  upon  her  face  of  utter,  heart-breaking  grief.  I 
once  came  upon  a  wretch  who  was  beating  his  wife, 
and  as  she  lay  at  his  feet,  in  abject  terror  and  un- 
speakable sorrow,  and  looked  up  in  his  face,  I  beheld 
very  much  the  same  expression  as  I  now  saw  upon 
the  face  of  this  woman.  She  did  not  attempt  to  an- 
swer any  thing  more  that  was  said  to  her,  but,  when  I 
had  finished,  thanked  me  for  what  I  had  done,  left  a 
message  of  gratitude  for  all  who  had  aided  her,  and 
went  away.  I  still  hoped  to  save  her,  and  my  heart 
was  so  stirred  with  pity  and  with  sorrow  for  the  poor 
helpless  and  defenseless  sufferer  that  I  resolved  to 
make  one  more  effort. 

I  knew  an  old  Mormon,  who  in  his  heart  had  come 
to  despise  the  whole  system,  but  who  did  not  deem  it 

best  as  yet  to  break  away  from  the  Church.     He  was 
14 


210        THE  MOKMCXN  PROBLEM — APPENDIX. 

in  favor  with  the  priesthood,  and  from  his  long  ex- 
perience possessed  the  means  of  obtaining  informa- 
tion not  otherwise  accessible.  I  gave  him  an  account 
of  the  whole  matter,  and  asked  him  to  ascertain  how 
far  the  wretched  mother  had  occasion  for  her  fears. 
After  a  time  he  came  to  me  and  said  that  the  wom- 
an's apprehensions  were  well  grounded  ;  that  it  had 
been  determined  in  "  council "  to  make  an  example 
of  her  case;  that  one  of  the  prophets  had  publicly 
prophesied  in  Payson  that  "the  hand  of  the  Lord 
would  be  laid  in  judgment,  first  upon  the  children  of 
this  misguided  wife  and  mother,  and  then  upon  her- 
self ; "  and  finally  that  the  notorious  Porter  Rockwell, 
the  Danite,  had  been  commissioned  to  make  the 
prophecy  good.  That  settled  it.  I  knew  Porter  Rock- 
well, and  I  knew  that  he  could  kill  the  children  in 
very  pastime.  The  suit  was  withdrawn. 

Some  time  since  I  received  a  letter  from  Utah 
from  which  I  make  the  following  extract : 

"You  remember  Mrs. ,  in  whose  behalf  you 

interested  yourself  at  one  time.  She  died  last"  week. 
She  said  to  me  a  little  before  she  breathed  her  last, 
'  You  know  very  well  that  I  die  of  a  broken  heart ; 
but  I  have  saved  my  children ;  bring  them  to  me.' 
They  came  to  her  bedside,  one  ten,  one  twelve,  and 


LIVING  IT  OUT.  211 

one  fourteen  years  of  age.  She  took  each  by  the 
hand  and  asked  them  to  promise  over  their  mother's 
dying  form  that  they  never  would  enter  upon  plural 
marriage.  They  did  so.  Then  she  lay  back  upon 
her  pillow,  and  said,  'The  hand  of  death,  precious 
death,  sweet  death,  hath  opened  the  gates  for  me  at 
last.'  These  were  her  last  words." 


212        THE  MORMON  PROBLEM — APPENDIX. 


THE    COUNCIL    OF    DAN, 

A  STOKY  OF  MORMON  CRIME. 


IN  the  early  autumn  of  1857,  and  just  as  Johnston's 
army  was  entering  Utah,  a  company  of  gentlemen 
started  from  California  for  the  "  east."  They  were 
men  of  abundant  means,  and  had  made  provision  for 
a  most  comfortable  journey  through  the  mountains 
and  over  the  plains.  They  had  a  fine  outfit  of  horses, 
mules,  equipments,  guns,  pistols,  etc.,  and  carried 
with  them  about  thirty  thousand  dollars  in  gold. 

It  was  their  purpose,  after  visiting  their  friends 
and  the  homes  of  their  earlier  life,  which  they  had 
left  only  five  or  six  years  previous,  to  locate  some- 
where in  the  new  States  lying  west  of  the  Missouri 
River,  and  engage  in  farming,  stock  raising,  and 
other  speculative  pursuits.  The  party  was  composed 
of  six  persons  :  the  Aiken  brothers,  a  man  known  as 
"  Colonel,"  one  named  Buck,  and  two  others.  They 
were  in  high  spirits.  They  knew  the  journey  that 
lay  before  them,  for  they  had  crossed  the  continent 


THE  COUNCIL  OF  DAN.  213 

by  the  overland  route  to  California,  They  had  suc- 
ceeded in  their  quest  of  fortune,  and  were  now  re- 
turning home  with  a  feeling  of  pride,  as  they  contem- 
plated meeting  their  friends  of  former  days.  One  of 
them,  at  least,  had  an  adventure  in  Salt  Lake  City  on 
the  trip  out  that  promised  to  yield  him  special  happi- 
ness when  he  should  again  reach  that  place  on  the  re- 
turn trip ;  of  which  we  shall  hear  from  his  own  lips 
farther  on. 

They  had  heard  of  the  troubles  in  Utah,  but  as 
they  were  quiet  and  respectable  men,  and  intended  to 
stop  in  that  Territory  but  a  little  time  and  to  take  no 
part  whatever  in  the  events  there  transpiring,  they 
anticipated  no  difficulty  on  account  of  the  Mor- 
mons. 

The  overland  journey,  with  its  perils,  its  pleasures, 
and  its  excitements,  has  been  so  often  described,  that 
it  is  not  necessary  to  give  the  reader  any  account  of 
it ;  besides,  our  story  does  not  relate  to  the  joiirney, 
but  to  what  befell  the  party  that  made  it  as  they 
reached  the  abode  of  the  Latter  Day  Saints.  Suffice 
it  to  say,  that  on  the  Humboldt  they  fell  in  with  a 
train,  and  journeyed  with  the  emigrants  till  they 
reached  the  Utah  settlements.  Here  they  pushed  on 
for  a  day  more  rapidly,  and  at  night  camped  some.- 


214        THE  MOEMON  PBOBLEM — APPENDIX. 

what  in  advance  of  the  train,  and  not  far  from  the 
then  small  city  of  Ogden. 

Here  we  will  leave  them  for  the  present,  to  give 
an  account  of  a  meeting  that  was  held  in  the  "  En- 
dowment House  "  at  Salt  Lake  City,  about  one  wreek 
before  the  party  reached  the  point  where  they  were 
now  encamped. 

In  order  to  rightly  understand  the  character  of  this 
meeting,  and  in  fact  to  appreciate  what  resulted  from 
it,  some  knowledge  of  the  organization  known  as 
the  "  Mormon  priesthood ."  is  necessary. 

Then,  as  now,  its  agents  and  representatives  were 
in  every  part  of  the  world,  and  to-day  the  Mormon 
priesthood  is  the  most  cunningly  devised,  perfectly 
constructed,  and  powerful  organization  of  the  kind 
on  earth.  I  am  aware  that  to  those  not  acquainted 
with  the  facts  this  will  appear  as  an  exaggerated  state- 
ment ;  but  it  is,  nevertheless,  true. 

Among  its  other  agencies  for  crime  and  lawless- 
nesss  was  the  famous  "  Danite  "  band.  It  was  to  do 
the  bloody  work  of  this  holy  priesthood.  It  was  com- 
manded, at  the  time  of  which  we  write,  by  the  noto- 
rious "  Port  Rockwell,"  probably  the  most  infamous 
of  all  the  Mormon  assassins.  The  stories  of  his  crime, 
as  related  by  the  old  settlers  of  Utah,  are  revolting 


THE  COUNCIL  OF  DAN.  215 

beyond  description.  I  saw  him  in  the  year  1875  in 
the  city  of  Provo.  He  was  about  sixty  years  of  age, 
and  his  long,  white  hair  hung  about  his  shoulders, 
and  his  copious  white  beard  reached  to  his  waist.  His 
countenance  was  wrinkled  and  grizzly,  and  the  most 
inhuman  that  I  had  ever  seen  (always  excepting 
that  of  John  Taylor,  now  the  president  of  the 
Church). 

Well,  this  "adder  in  the  path"  commanded  the 
Danite  Band,  and  receive^  his  orders  from  the 
"  Council  of  Dan,"  now  duly  convened  in  the  Endow- 
ment House,  to  which  we  return. 

This  council  was  composed  only  of  the  three  mem- 
bers of  the  first  presidency,  one  patriarch,  one  proph- 
et, one  of  the  twelve  apostles,  and  the  president  of 
the  "seventy,"  seven  in  all.  It  determined  upon  all 
the  more  important  crimes  that  were  to  be  perpetrated 
by  the  Danites,  such  as  the  Mountain  Meadows  mas- 
sacre, the  Morrisite  butchery,  the  taking  off  of  the 
Potters,  of  the  Parrishes,  of  Bowman,  of  Dr.  Robin- 
son, of  the  Gunnison  part}',  and  the  destruction  of  such 
malcontents  as  Gladden  and  others.  The  details  of 
these  crimes  were  always  left  to  be  arranged  by  sub- 
ordinate councils,  and  the  execution  thereof  to  the 
Danites  and  such  of  the  faithful  as  they  should  call 


216        THE  MORMON  PROBLEM — APPENDIX. 

to  their  assistance ;  but  the  ordering  of  the  crime,  in 
the  first  instance,  was  always  by  this  body.  When 
convened  for  such  a  purpose  they  never  made  any 
pretense  as  to  religious  duty  or  divine  inspiration  or 
churchly  prerogative,  as  they  did  when  in  subordi- 
nate councils,  or  when  they  had  to  control  the  credu- 
lous masses  of  their  people.  There  was  no  talk  about 
"  blood  atonement,"  and  no  covering  of  the  contem- 
plated crime  with  any  religious  mask.  These  men 

knew  each  other,  and  each  understood  that  the  motives 

- 
underlying  their  whole  system  were  simply  avarice, 

lust,  and  greed  of  power.  They  generally  looked  their 
business  square  in  the  face,  like  any  other  gang  of 
ruffians.  It  was  so  in  the  present  instance. 

Brigham  Young  was  in  the  chair,  and  stated  the 
business  before  them.  "  The  Aiken  party,  of  whose 
departure  from  California  we  had  information,  must 
now  be  approaching  the  Territory,  and  the  question 
arises  if  they  shall  be  allowed  to  pass  through  it  to 
the  States.  It  is  composed  of  six  men.  They  are 
men  of  intelligence  and  observation.  They  will  tarry 
for  a  time,  doubtless,  in  our  midst.  In  reaching  the 
States  they  will  pass  through  the  lines  of  Johnston's 
army,  and  can,  if  they  choose,  both  with  the  invading 
force  and  witli  the  United  States  Government,  have 


THE  COUNCIL  OF  DAN.  217 

influence  and  impart  information  that  will  be  damag- 
ing to  our  kingdom.  Shall  they  be  cut  off  ? " 

As  soon  as  he  had  ceased  speaking  the  apostolic 
member  of  the  council,  a  man  noted  for  great  blunt- 
ness  of  speech,  arose  and  replied  : 

"  There  is  no  use  in  wasting  time  in  discussing  this 
matter.  Either  they  must  pass  on  to  the  States,  or 
remain  in  Utah,  or  return  to  California — or  we  must 
otherwise  dispose  of  them.  To  allow  them  to  reach 
the  States  would  be  dangerous  to  our  interests ;  to 
keep  them  in  Utah  would  be  folly ;  to  return  them 
to  California  would  be  madness.  "We  know  the  other 
alternative,  expect  to  do  it,  and  what's  the  use  in  fool- 
ing ?  We  have  undertaken  to  establish  a  kingdom  on 
this  continent.  We  knew  very  well  what  that  meant 
when  we  started  in,  and  we  know  now." 

Then  others  made  concurrent  remarks,  but  it  re- 
mained for  the  chair  to  brace  the  company  up  for  the 
whole  business  by  this  statement : 

"  The  party  has  some  of  the  finest  horses  and 
mules  that  ever  entered  Utah.  They  are  armed  with 
weapons  that  would  grace  any  of  the  officers  or  mem- 
bers of  the  '  Nauvoo  Legion  ; '  and  they  have  a  large 
sum  of  money  that  would  mightily  replenish — tie 
treasury  of  the  Lord"  he  said,  sarcastically,  and 


218        THE  MORMON  PROBLEM— APPENDIX. 

laughing  immoderately.  Nothing  ever  stirred  Brig- 
ham  Young  like  the  scent  of  money  and  the  sight 
of  gold. 

Then  the  apostle  arose  and  submitted  the  follow- 
ing :  "  Inasmuch  as  Utah  is  now  under  martial  law, 
it  is  hereby  decreed  that  the  Aiken  party  be  arrested 
as  spies  as  soon  as  they  shall  reach  Ogden,  their  goods 
be  confiscated,  and  the  members  thereof  be  incarcer- 
ated for  a  time  in  the  city  prison,  and  then  be  turned 
over  to  the  tender  mercies  of  Porter  Rockwell  and 
his  subordinates ;  and  that  directions  as  to  details 
shall  be  further  given  from  the  usual  sources."  The 
chair  said  :  "  Let  all  who  favor  the  decree  make  the 
usual  sign,"  and  instantly  each  member  drew  his 
right  hand  quickly  across  his  throat. 

Brigham  then  stood  upon  his  feet,  and,  surveying 
for  a  moment  his  accomplices  in  so  many  bloody 
deeds,  said  :  "  I  hereby  declare  the  decree  adopted, 
and  seal  and  approve  the  same,"  making  the  same 
sign  as  the  others. 

The  "  Council  of  Dan "  thus,  adjourned.  Ah  ! 
little  company  of  brave  and  happy  men  pushing 
through  the  mountains  and  toiling  over  the  desert, 
you  will  never  view  the  magnificent  scenery  of 
Weber  and  Echo  canyons,  or  hunt  antelope  upon  the 


THE  COUNCIL  OF  DAN.  219 

Laramie  Plains ;  you  will  never  visit  the  homes  of 
your  childhood,  nor  look  upon  the  faces  of  the  friends 
you  love.  When  that  council  had  adjourned  there 
was  not  power  enough  in  the  United  States  Govern- 
ment to  save  you  ! 

Let  not  the  public  for  one  moment  think  that  in 
this  account  a  single  fact  has  been  exaggerated. 
Speak,  George  Q.  Cannon  !  Speak,  Mayor  Smoot ! 
Speak,  John  Taylor,  president  of  the  "  Church  of 
Jesus  Christ  of  Latter  Day  Saints!"  and  tell  the 
worjd  if  a  single  sentence  in  the  foregoing  is  mislead- 
ing. And  let  none  suppose  that  the  account  of  the 
atrocious  crime  that  followed  is  either  false  or  in  any 
degree  colored.  It  came,  word  for  word  as  here  nar- 
rated, from  the  lips  of  one  of  the  perpetrators. 

It  was  about  one  week  subsequent  to  the  conven- 
ing of  this  council  that  our  travelers  reached  the 
point  near  Ogden  where  we  last  beheld  them,  and 
went  into  camp  for  the  night.  They  had  prepared 
and  taken  their  evening  meal,  and  were  now  seated 
upon  their  blankets  around  the  roaring  fire  of  burn- 
ing sage-brush,  smoking  their  pipes  and  discussing 
their  proposed  visit  to  Salt  Lake  City,  when  the 
"  Colonel,"  who  had  remained  silent  for  some  time, 
exclaimed  : 


220         THE  MORMON  PROBLEM — APPENDIX. 

"  Boys,  I  have  a  mind  to  reveal  to  you  a  secret  of 
my  own,  and  make  you  acquainted  with  certain  facts 
that  possibly  it  might  be  well  for  you  to  understand 
during  our  sojourn  in  this  delectable  kingdom.  Pos- 
sibly I  may  need  your  advice  and  your  assistance, 
and,  therefore,  it  is  best  to  have  an  understanding 
now." 

"  Why,  what  the  dickens  is  the  matter  now  ? " 
cried  Buck.  "  Do  you  contemplate  a  coup  d  'etat,  by 
which  Brigham  Young  shall  be  deposed  and  you 
enthroned  King  of  Zion  ?  " 

"  Or  do  you  expect  to  stampede  his  wives  to  the 
States  ? "  added  the  younger  Aiken. 

"  Or  will  you  be  baptized  for  your  sins,  and  for 
your  grandfather's  sins,  and  for  the  sins  of  all  your 
ancestors,  join  the  "  Order  of  Enoch,"  and  go  on  a 
foreign  mission?"  said  another. 

"  O  quit  your  nonsense,"  he  answered ;  it's  serious 
enough  business,  and  may  be  more  serious  before  I 
am  through,  and  here  goes  for  a  clean  breast  of  it. 
When  I  came  across  the  plains,  six  years  ago,  I  trav- 
eled from  the  Platte  with  a  Mormon  train  to  Salt 
Lake  City.  In  one  of  the  families  that  had  been 
brought  from  the  Middle  States  was  a  beautiful 
woman  about  nineteen  years  of  age,  of  a  quick  and 


THE  COUNCIL  OF  DAN.  221 

intelligent  mind,  and  carrying  the  charm  of  pure, 
tender,  and  graceful  womanhood.  "We  were  thrown 
much  together,  and,  as  a  natural  consequence,  fell  in 
love  with  each  other.  The  Mormons  were  not  blind 
to  what  was  transpiring,  but  rather  encouraged  us, 
hoping  through  her  influence  to  make  a  convert  of 
me,  and  secure  the  addition  of  myself  to  the  Church. 
But  while  she  was  not  strong  in  the  faith  I  was  an 
utter  unbeliever ;  and  so  there  was  no  attraction  for 
me  beyond  that  of  the  charming  girl  whom  I  had 
come  to  love  in  my  heart  of  hearts.  Before  we 
reached  the  city  we  were  betrothed,  and  had  pledged 
to  each  other  our  vows  of  fidelity  for  the  future.  I 
could  not  abide  with  the  Mormons  at  Salt  Lake  City, 
and  she  could  not  depart  with  me ;  besides,  I  knew 
that  my  life  in  California  was  to  be  an  adventurous 
one,  and  could  not  foresee  what  the  end  might  be. 
So  it  was  agreed  between  us  that  I  should  go  on  and 
seek  my  fortune,  while  she  should  in  faithfulness  to 
me  await  my  return,  and,  if  possible,  proceed  with 
me  to  the  States  and  find  our  home  in  the  midst  of 
more  congenial  surroundings.  Well,  from  that  day 
to  this  it  has  not  been  possible  that  a  word  of  corre- 
spondence should  pass  between  us.  I  do  not  know 
whether  she  is  dead  or  alive ;  but  if  the  latter,  I'll 


222        THE  MORMON  PROBLEM — APPENDIX. 

wager  my  head  that  she  is  hopefully  waiting  for  me, 
and  will  joyfully  welcome  me.  I  intend  to  find  her 
upon  our  arrival  in  Salt  Lake  City.  If  she  cannot 
return  with  me  to  the  States  under  the  existing  state 
of  things,  I'll  wait  till  she  can.  If  that  time  does  not 
soon  come,  I'll  settle  in  Mormondom  until  it  arrives ; 
and  then,  boys,  I  carry  back  to  the  East  a  richer  prize 
by  far  than  is  contained  in  the  combined  contents  of 
that  strong  box  there  among  the  traps." 

To  say  that  his  companions  were  surprised  would 
be  to  express  it  but  feebly.  But  they  knew  the 
"  Colonel,"  and  understood  that  he  had,  with  his  usual 
reserve,  only  very  moderately  expressed  either  his 
regard  for  his  beloved  or  his  purposes  concerning 
her.  And  while  they  feared  that  the  affair  might  in 
some  way  lead  to  complications  and  trouble  with  the 
Mormon  authorities,  yet  there  was  no  help  for  it,  and 
they  were  not  the  men  to  desert  their  comrade.  So 
in  the  end  they  pledged  him  their  aid,  and,  wrapping 
themselves  in  their  blankets,  were  soon  fast  asleep. 

In  the  morning,  as  they  were  eating  their  breakfast, 
chatting,  joking,  rallying  the  "  Colonel,"  and  express- 
ing to  him  their  belief  that  the  "  Lion  of  the  Lord  " 
had,  long  before  this,  carried  off  his  "  Helen,"  and  ad- 
vising him  to  first  seek  her  within  his  regal  hall,  what 


THE  COUNCIL  OF  DAN.  223 

was  their  surprise  and  consternation  to  find  them- 
selves suddenly  surrounded  by  a  company  of  Mormon 
militia,  and  made  prisoners ! 

Not  a  word  of  explanation  was  given  ;  to  their 
repeated  demands  no  answer  was  returned.  They 
were  ordered  immediately  to  pack  their  goods,  mount, 
and  proceed,  unarmed  and  under  escort,  to  Salt  Lake 
City. 

Arrived  there,  the  horses,  mules,  equipments,  and 
all  their  money  was  taken  to  the  tithing  house  and 
confiscated ;  and  before  the  sun  had  disappeared  in 
the  west  they  were  thrown  into  prison  under  the 
charge  of  being  spies. 

The  next  day  the  emigrant  train  came  along  and 
vouched  for  the  men,  but  without  avail;  their  money 
and  their  "  cattle"  were  too  tempting  a  prey.  With- 
out examination,  without  trial,  and  with  no  power  to 
resist,  the  whole  party  were  kept  in  prison  for  several 
weeks. 

During  this  time  the  "  Colonel"  received  a  visit  from 
his  betrothed.  The  arrest  of  these  men  as  spies  was 
a  matter  of  publication  in  the  city  papers,  and  she 
had  read  an  account  of  it.  From  the  descriptions 
given,  and  from  the  fact  that  they  had  come  from  the 
Pacific  coast,  she  was  led  to  believe  that  he  for  whom 


224:         THE  MORMON  PROBLEM — APPENDIX. 

she  had  so  devotedly  waited  was  one  of  the  number. 
By  some  means  she  obtained  permission  to  visit  the 
prison ;  the  recognition  was  instantaneous,  and  the 
lovers  were  in  each  other's  arms. 

It  is  not  necessary  for  the  purposes  of  this  narrative 
to  describe  at  length  the  interview ;  besides,  we  are 
not  writing  a  love  story,  but  rather  a  story  of  blood. 
She  informed  him  that  her  parents  were  both  dead ; 
that  they  had  left  her  some  little  property,  which  had 
been  seized,  however,  by  Brigham  Young  under  some 
pretext  of  guardianship,  and  she  had  never  been  able 
to  recover  a  dollar  of  it.  She  was  now  sustaining 
herself  by  working  in  the  kitchen  of  a  Mormon  hotel 
in  the  city,  and  had  been  persecuted  almost  to  death 
by  a  bishop  who  desired  to  make  her  his  wife.  O 
how  gladly  would  she  have  accepted  the  protection 
of  the  "Colonel's"  arm  or  fled  with  him  to  the  States. 
But  with  a  breaking  heart  she  informed  him  of  her 
grave  apprehensions  for  his  life ;  "  for,"  said  she,  "  it 
is  known  to  me  that  the  i  Council  of  Dan '  had  been 
convened  just  previous  to  your  arrest.  I  do  not  ex- 
pect to  ever  see  you  again,  arid  as  for  myself  may 
God  help  me!"  and  she  sobbed  convulsively. 

Poor  soul !  Orphaned,  reduced  to  poverty,  in  the 
midst  of  lustful  human  beasts,  with  but  one  friend 


THE  COUNCIL  OF  DAN.  225 

on  earth,  and  he  in  prison,  the  world  holds  but  little 
hope  of  happiness  for  thee !  In  a  little  time  they 
were  torn  apart,  and  were  destined  never  to  meet 
again  in  this  world. 

After  many  weeks  it  was  announced  that  the  men 
were  to  be  returned  to  California  under  escort.  Only 
four  of  them,  however,  were  taken  from  the  prison, 
two  remaining,  who  were  afterward  assassinated  at 
the  point  of  the  mountains.  The  escort  of  the  four 
men,  of  whom  the  "  Colonel"  was  one,  consisted  of 
"Porter  Rockwell,"  "John  Lot,"  and  "One-eyed 
Miles,"  three-of  the  blackest-hearted  villains  that  ever 
served  the  "  Lord's  prophet "  in  the  Rocky  Mountains. 

They  had  been  preceded  as  far  as  the  village  of 
]Srephi  by  George  A.  Smith,  who  also  performed  a 
similar  service  just  previous  to  the  Mountain  Meadows 
massacre.  Arrived  at  Nephi  he  at  once  assembled 
the  priesthood,  and  boldly  proclaimed  the  decree. 
Some  dissented,  and  opposed  the  cold-blooded  plot. 
But  they  were  easily  silenced.  "For,"  said  Smith, 
"  we  have  had  a  revelation  from  God.  The  interests 
of  Zion  demand  that  this  work  be  done.  Besides,  has 
not  God,  by  his  servant  Brigham,  declared  that  to 
kill  men  when  it  is  necessary,  is  as  justifiable  as  it  is 

to  pray  for  them  when  that  is  necessary.     And  then 
15 


226         THE  MORMON  PROBLEM — APPENDIX. 

these  men  are  the  enemies  of  God  and  the  Church ; 
their  own  blood  can  alone  atone  for  their  sins ;  we 
kill  them  to  save  them,  not  to  destroy  them."  The 
result  of  the  council  was  the  appointment  of  sixteen 
men  to  "  use  up  "  the  Aiken  party. 

Meanwhile  the  doomed  men  with  their  "  escort " 
had  reached  Nephi,  and  at  midnight  a  team  was 
fitted  out  and  the  sixteen  men  were  driven  rapidly  to 
the  southward.  The  next  evening,  just  as  the  vic- 
tims were  camping  at  the  Sevier  River,  a  party  drove 
up  from  the  opposite  direction  and  asked  permission 
to  camp  with  them.  The  plot  of  the  murder  was 
well  planned.  The  Aiken  party  never  suspected  that 
these  men  were  assassins,  who  had  been  in  Nephi  the 
night  before.  They  were  pleased  to  have  company, 
and  the  camp-fires  were  built  side  by  side.  The 
Mormons  outnumbered  their  victims  four  to  one,  yet 
were  too  cowardly  to  make  the  attack  until  sleep  ren- 
dered the  poor  victims  helpless ;  then  they  pounced 
upon  the  sleeping,  defenseless  fellows,  and  struck 
them  on  the  head  with  king-bolts,  clubs,  and  iron 
bars.  The  "  Colonel "  bounded  up,  and,  bruised  and 
bleeding  as  he  was,  escaped  in  the  bushes.  A  second 
one  of  the  Aiken  boys  sprang  to  his  feet,  but  was 
shot  down.  The  other  two  were  brained  where  they 


THE  COUNCIL  OF  DAN.  227 

lay.  The  three  lifeless  bodies  were  thrown  into  the 
river,  and  the  brother  who  was  shot  down  revived 
when  he  came  in  contact  with  the  cold  stream.  Poor 
fellow,  a  night  of  horror  awaited  him  which  was 
worse  than  a  thousand  deaths.  Crawling  over  the 
cruel,  pebbly  bottom  of  the  river,  drenched,  bleeding, 
and  half-dead,  the  man  reached  the  willows  near  the 
camp.  Here  he  lay  shivering  with  fear,  and  heard  the 
murderers  boast  of  the  brutal  deed.  Summoning  all 
his  strength  the  wounded  man  crawled  away  through 
the  bushes  and  started  back  to  Nephi.  It  snowed 
lightly  during  the  previous  day,  and  that  night  there 
was  a  bitter,  biting  frost.  Aiken  had  on  nothing  but 
his  pants  and  shirt.  The  crisp  snow  and  sharp  stones 
cut  his  feet  until  he  could  hardly  endure  the  pain. 
Weak  from  loss  of  blood,  dazed  and  stunned  by 
blows  on  the  head,  cold,  deserted  and  lonely,  weary 
and  worn-out,  the  man  traveled  all  night  long. 
Naught  but  thoughts  of  a  murdered  brother  lying 
mangled  and  unburied  in  the  black  waters  of  the 
Sevier,  gave  him  strength  to  press  forward  to  where 
he  vainly  hoped  for  assistance.  Just  at  dawn  he 
completed  his  twenty-six-mile  journey,  and  fell  ex- 
hausted at  the  foot  of  a  little  hill  in  the  outskirts  of 
Nephi.  He  had  fallen  in  front  of  a  house,  and  from 


228         THE  MOKMON  PKOBLEM — APPENDIX. 

the  inmates  lie  learned  that  one  of  his  comrades  had 
likewise  escaped,  and  had  ascended  the  hill  only  a 
few  moments  before.  Wild  with  hope  that  it  was 
his  brother,  he  struggled  to  his  feet  and  staggered 
onward.  In  spite  of  all  his  efforts  he  fell  heavily 
four  or  live  times,  and  could  not  rise  until  he  had 
lain  still  and  rested  for  a  few  moments.  When  he 
reached  the  hotel  he  found  the  "  Colonel "  instead  of  his 
brother.  The  poor,  half -murdered  men  uttered  not  a 
word,  but  locked  in  each  other's  arms,  fell  swooning 
to  the  ground.  Even  the  Mormons  who  looked  upon 
the  scene  were  affected  to  tears.  Cold-blooded  assas- 
sination awaited  them  after  all.  Thoughtlessly  they 
told  that  they  recognized  some  of  the  murderers. 
The  hotel  was  guarded  day  and  night  by  the  Mor- 
mons lest  the  victims  should  escape.  The  hotel 
keeper  was  in  league  with  the  assassins.  His  team 
had  hauled  the  murderers  to  the  Sevier.  When  three 
weeks  had  passed,  the  wounded  men  had  so  far  re- 
covered as  to  wish  to  return  to  Salt  Lake  City.  The 
hotel  keeper  refused  to  let  them  go  until  his  bill  was 
paid.  They  had  escaped  with  nothing  but  a  gold 
watch  and  a  silver-mounted  Colt's  revolver.  Their 
money  and  valuable  property  were  lying  in  the 
tithing  office — in  God's  store-house.  They  offered 


THE  COUNCIL  OF  DAX.  229 

the  hotel  keeper  the  watch,  worth  two  hundred  and 
fifty  dollars,  for  their  bill,  but  he  demanded  the 
revolver  instead.  As  he  took  the  revolver,  Aiken 
said :  "  There  goes  our  last  friend.  We'll  never 
leave  this  valley  alive."  Disarmed,  wounded,  and 
utterly  helpless,  these  men  were  put  in  a  wagon  and 
driven  to  an  old  stable  a  few  miles  out  of  Nephi. 
The  driver  backed  his  wagon  close  up  to  the  stable, 
and  unhitched  his  horses,  saying  he  wanted  to  feed 
them.  The  hind  end  of  the  wagon  had  been  taken 
out  before  starting,  and  as  soon  as  the  horses  were 
out  of  the  way  a  volley  of  buckshot  fired  from  the 
stable  fairly  riddled  the  bodies  of  the  two  Calif ornians. 
The  party  of  cowardly  wretches  concealed  in  the 
stable  continued  to  fire  until  every  muscle  in  the 
victims'  bodies  ceased  to  quiver.  They  then  stripped 
off  the  clothing,  and  threw  the  bodies  into  one  of 
those  round  springs  or  natural  wells  which  seem  to 
have  no  bottom.  Thus  was  consummated  the  work 
of  the  Council  of  Dan. 

In  the  year  1875  I  was  called  to  visit  a  poor  family 
in  Provo,  consisting  of  a  mother  and  five  children. 
She  was  a  widow  of  a  Mormon  bishop  that  God  had 
mercifully  taken  out  of  the  world  a  year  or  two  pre- 
vious. It  was  in  winter  time.  The  home  was  an  old 


230        THE  MORMON  PROBLEM — APPENDIX. 

tumble-down  shanty,  the  floor  of  which  was  the  bare 
earth,  and  through  the  walls  of  which  you  could  see 
in  any  direction.  The  children  were  hovering  about 
a  scanty  fire.  They  looked  hungry  and  destitute. 
The  mother  was  emaciated  and  feeble,  her  life  being 
nearly  worn-out  by  her  sufferings.  She  tried  to 
sustain  herself  and  her  children  by  cultivating  a 
garden,  raising  a  little  fruit,  and  producing  eggs  and 
poultry.  But  every  tenth  dozen  of  eggs,  and  every 
tenth  head  of  cabbage,  and  every  tenth  bushel  of  fruit, 
had  to  go  to  the  tithing  office.  Years  previous  to 
this,  against  her  will,  but  driven  almost  to  insanity 
by  her  persecutions,  she  had  married  the  bishop.  In 
her  heart  she  loathed  him  and  the  monstrous  system 
of  fraud  and  crime  that  he  represented ;  but  almost 
bereft  of  her  reason,  and  all  hope  of  happiness  long 
since  dead  within  her,  melancholy  and  despair  had 
taken  hold  of  her,  and  she  had  thrown  herself  into 
his  clutches  as  she  would  more  gladly  have  thrown 
herself  to  a  furious  beast.  She  said  her  fondest  hope 
now  was  to  die. 

I  referred  to  the  crimes  of  Mormonisrn  and  of  the 
awful  weight  of  guilt  that  rested  on  these  holy  and 
everlasting  murderers. 

She  answered :  "  Many  years  ago  I  stole  a  horse 


THE  COUNCIL  OF  DAN.  231 

from  a  stable  in  Salt  Lake  City  and  rode  a  night 
and  a  day  to  save  a  party  from  being  massacred 
on  the  Sevier  River.  But  I  arrived  too  late." 
Then  her  eyes  became  fixed  with  a  far-away 
look,  and  "she  was  silent  for  many  minutes.  She  was 
violently  agitated,  and  sobbed  and  wept  most  bitterly, 
and  was  well-nigh  overcome  by  her  feelings,  which 
she  finally  controlled  only  with  great  effort.  Then 
she  said :  "  I  wonder  if  there  is  any  God." 
She  was  the  "  Colonel's  "  former  fiance. 


232        THE  MORMON  PROBLEM — APPEXDIX. 


THE    QUESTION    SUBMITTED, 

THE  STOKY  OF  AN  APOSTATE  MORMON. 


"  I  AM  an  apostate  Mormon.  I  feel  very  much, 
in  stating  it,  as  I  should  in  saying  that  I  was  an  apos- 
tate horse-thief.  All  this  talk  that  the  Mormons 
make  before  the  world  about  '  religion,'  and  a 
'  Church/  and  '  worshiping  God  according  to  the 
dictates  of  their  own  conscience,'  etc.,  is  bosh ;  and 
all  that  we  hear  and  read  from  statesmen,  editors, 
and  public  men  about  the  '  constitutional  guarantee 
of  religious  liberty  to  American  citizens,'  as  consti- 
tuting a  barrier  to  stringent  legislation  on  the  Mor- 
mon question,  is  simply  disgusting.  Why,  stranger, 
there  is  not  a  page  of  Mormon  history  that  is  not  a 
record  of  crime.  There  has  not  been  a  day  during 
the  past  fifty  years  that  Mormonism  has  not  been  a 
monstrous  conspiracy  against  the  United  States  Gov- 
ernment, its  officers  and  laws.  From  its  first  incep- 
tion it  has  been  organized  ruffianism,  and  as  a  system 
of  immorality  has  been  the  foulest  that  ever  cursed 
the  world. 


THE  QUESTION  SUBMITTED.  233 

"  The  priesthood  will  swear  a  man  to  eternal  hos- 
tility to  United  States  authority,  boldly  proclaim  a 
kingdom  in  the  heart  of  a  Republic,  cut  a  man's 
throat  to  save  his  soul,  massacre  a  hundred  at  a  time, 
institute  and  maintain  a  reign  of  terror,  drag  woman- 
hood in  the  muddiest  cess-pool  of  sin,  and  yet  presume 
to  offer  as  their  defense  from  year  to  year  the  stereo- 
typed plea,  <  We  will  worship  God  according  to  the 
dictate  of  our  own  conscience ; '  and  an  intelligent 
nation  will  accept  such  a  plea  for  half  a  century  and 
talk  about  '  constitutional  difficulties ! ' 

"  You  ask  me  how  I  got  my  eyes  open,  and  how  I 
came  to  apostatize.  It  is  quite  a  story,  stranger, 
but  if  you  will  make  yourself  comfortable  and  give 
these  peaches  and  melons  a  fair  trial,  you  shall  have 
it.  It  sort  of  does  me  good  to  talk  freely.  There 
was  a  time  in  Utah  when  those  of  us  who  felt  the 
yoke  of  the  priesthood  would  get  together,  make  a 
pretense  of  going  a  hunting,  and  penetrate  into  the 
mountains  eight  or  ten  miles  for  the  express  purpose 
of  finding  a  safe  place  to  swear,  and  curse  Brigham 
Young  and  the  whole  gang.  If  we  had  a  quiet  little 
talk  in  our  own  homes,  even  at  midnight,  it  was 
likely  to  be  published  in  full  in  the  i  Deseret  News ' 
the  next  morning.  It  is  a  perfect  luxury  to  be 


234:        THE  MORMON  PROBLEM — APPENDIX. 

able  to  open  your  heart  without  being  afraid  of  i  dis- 
cipline '  at  the  hands  of  the  priesthood." 

This  man,  whose  story  I  am  now  writing,  had 
become  a  convert  to  Mormonism  in  the  old  country. 
He  came  to  Utah,  and  after  an  eventful  history,  as 
will  be  seen  from  his  narrative,  abandoned  the 
"Church"  and  boldly  proclaimed  his  independence 
from  priestly  despotism.  He  became  possessed  of  a 
small  farm  near  one  of  those  wonderful  canyons  in 
the  Wasatch  mountains,  from  whence  came  a  river 
that  afforded  an  ample  supply  of  water  for  the  in- 
habitants of  the  valley. 

I  had  been  following  the  river  during  the  forenoon 
enjoying  the  grand  sport  of  fly-fishing  for  the  mam- 
moth trout  that  it  contained,  and,  when  near  to  his 
house,  had  struck  a  magnificent  specimen  that  weighed 
upon  landing  him  exactly  eight  pounds  and  a  half. 
The  fish  fought  a  furious  battle,  and  my  slender  rod 
weighed  only  eight  ounces,  but  I  had  a  long  "  riff  " 
of  clean  water  and  a  fair  chance  to  work,  and  in  just 
one  hour  and  twenty  minutes  I  had  captured  my 
prey.  O,  but  he  was  a  beauty,  as  he  lay  upon  the 
pebbly  bank  of  the  river  gasping  and  struggling  in 
his  defeat ;  and  I  was  weary  enough  after  the  excite- 
ment had  passed  off.  So  when  this  farmer,  who  had 


THE  QUESTION  SUBMITTED.  235 

witnessed  the  sport  and  came  running  to  enjoy  it 
with  me.  invited  me  to  come  up  to  his  house  and 
take  a  rest  and  try  a  little  fruit,  I  was  right  glad  to 
accept  the  invitation.  Our  conversation,  naturally 
enough,  reverted  to  the  inevitable  topic ;  and  before 
I  left  I  had  heard  one  of  the  most  remarkable  and  in- 
teresting stories  of  Utah  life  that  ever  reached  my 
ears  in  that  Territory.  I  resume  his  account  of  it, 
and  give  it  in  his  own  words.  "  You  must  know," 
said  he,  "  that  one  of  the  hardest  things  for  a  man  to 
do  is  to  admit  that  he  has  been  tremendously  hum- 
bugged. At  least  it  was  for  me.  I  had  been  a  sin- 
cere believer  in  Mormon  ism,  as  thousands  of  the  rank 
and  file  of  the  Church  are  to-day.  I  really  believed 
that  Joseph  Smith  was  a  prophet ;  that  he  had  found 
the  gold  plates ;  and  that  through  him  God  had 
opened  a  new  dispensation  of  religion  in  America. 

"Upon  our  arrival  in  this  country  we  were  re- 
quired to  give  a  bond  to  repay  our  passage  money 
with  interest  in  five  equal  annual  installments.  I  was 
a  little  surprised  at  this,  but  I  soon  learned  that  it  was 
by  this  means  that  the  emigration  fund  was  to  be 
kept  replenished,  and  so  become  a  perpetual  agency 
in  bringing  to  these  shores  those  who  should  become 
converts  in  the  old  country. 


236        THE  MORMON  PROBLEM — APPENDIX. 

"  But  what  surprised  me  the  most  was,  what  T  saw 
the  condition  of  the  people  to  be  in  this  Territory.  I 
had  expected  to  see  the  kingdom  of  God  and  the 
people  dwelling  in  a  sort  of  earthly  paradise ;  but 
the  very  first  Sabbath  a  man  was  pointed  out  to  me 
as  a  bishop  of  the  '  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Latter 
Day  Saints.'  He  stood  before  a  drinking  saloon  in 
the  city,  with  both  hands  in  his  pockets,  and  chewing 
tobacco  so  vigorously  that  the  juice  was  running 
down  from  the  corners  of  his  mouth.  He  was  un- 
shaved,  uncombed,  and  was  dressed  in  shabby  cloth- 
ing. As  I  looked  about  among  the  people  I  saw 
poverty  and  immorality  on  every  hand.  The  most 
horrid  profanity  was  common,  even  in  the  sacred 
desk  at  the  Tabernacle ;  Church  liquor  stores 
abounded,  and  the  people  drank  more  whisky  than 
any  class  of  people  I  had  ever  seen.  Sabbath-break- 
ing was  universal.  I  saw  the  bishop  of  Provo, 
after  preaching,  go  into  the  field  with  his  men  on  the 
Sabbath  and  work  as  though  to  make  up  lost  time. 
There  was  a  coarseness  and  looseness  in  society  that 
were  shocking,  and  if  an}7  remonstrance  was  offered  to 
these  things  the  people  would  laugh  and  say,  *  O  this 
is  God's  kingdom,  you  know  ! ' 

"I  had  never  seen  so  much  stolid  ignorance.     I 


THE  QUESTION  SUBMITTED.  237 

went  into  a  school  one  day  and  found  it  taught  by  a 
very  illiterate  person  who  was  just  then  giving  a 
lesson  in  geography  that  would  have  made  a  South 
Sea  Islander  laugh. 

"Well,  stranger,  it  was  hard  for  me  to  reconcile  all 
this  with  the  'kingdom  of  God,'  and  before  I  had 
been  in  Utah  a  month  I  found  myself  saying  within 
my  own  mind,  4  If  I  had  known  that  it  was  like  this, 
I  would  not  have  come.'  But  I  tried  to  regard  it  all 
as  an  abuse  of  the  system  rather  than  the  real  fruit 
of  Mormonism. 

"  Finally  I  came  to  this  valley  to  locate.  I  do  not 
know  whether  it  was  because  I  considered  it  the  most 
inviting  portion  of  the  Territory,  or  whether  it  was 
because  pretty  Margery  Blake  lived  here.  You  see 
I  had  known  Margery  in  the  old  country,  and  possi- 
bly my  desire  to  follow  her  to  America  had  facilitated 
the  work  of  the  missionary  in  making  a  convert  of 
me.  At  any  rate  I  was  mighty  glad  to  get  near  to 
Margery,  and  I  fancied  that  she  was  happy  when  I 
came.  I  bought  a  piece  of  land  not  far  from  her 
father's  little  farm,  paid  the  small  amount  of  money 
I  had,  and  engaged  to  pay  the  balance  in  small  but 
regular  installments. 

"  I  worked  away  as  hard  as  ever  I  could,  and  was 


238         THE  MORMON  PROBLEM — APPENDIX. 

getting  along  very  well,  both  with  my  land  and  with 
my  Margery,  when  something  peculiar  happened. 
There  was  an  attorney  in  Provo  by  the  name  of  Mil- 
dew. If  ever  a  man  was  rightly  named  it  was  he. 
Of  all  the  villainous,  unscrupulous  beings,  destitute 
of  humanity  and  full  of  diabolical  traits,  that  I  had 
ever  met,  he  was  the  worst.  The  c  Gentiles '  have 
always  called  him  '  Uriah  Heep' — I  have  understood 
because  of  some  despicable  character  of  that  name 
in  a  novel. 

"  He  was  a  shining  light  among  the  prophets.,  and 
a  man  of  great  power  and  high  standing  with  the 
priesthood.  Well,  I  was  credibly  informed  that  he 
had  got  his  eye  on  Margery,  and  was  likely  to  have 
her  in  spite  of  every  thing  that  she  or  any  one  else 
could  do,  for  it  was  very  difficult  to  thwart  one  of 
the  priesthood  of  his  standing  in  those  days.  He 
had  several  wives  already.  In  one  instance  he  had 
brought  a  suit  for  a  divorce  in  behalf  of  a  prepos- 
sessing woman,  secured  the  decree,  and  when  she 
could  not  pay  him  for  his  services  as  attorney  act- 
ually proposed  to  accept  her  hand  in  payment.  He 
sort  of  levied  upon  her,  and  she  confessed  judgment, 
and  married  him. 

"Now  he  was  after  my  Margery.     She  was  keenly 


THE  QUESTION  SUBMITTED.  239 

alive  to  her  danger,  and  was  horror-stricken.  She 
would  have  married  me  at  once,  but  so  great  was  the 
influence  of  Mildew  that  her  parents  were  afraid  to 
offend  him  by  granting  their  consent,  and  not  one  of 
the  priesthood  would  perform  the  ceremony  against 
his  will.  I  knew  that  it  was  likely  to  bring  disas- 
ter to  all  concerned,  if  I  opposed  this  man  in  his 
schemes.  He  could  command  the  Danites  to  do  his 
service,  and  was  sure  to  be  protected  by  the  head  of 
the  Church  at  Salt  Lake  City.  I  did  not  care  so 
much  for  myself  in  not  provoking  him  to  wrath,  but 
I  did  care  for  Margery  and  her  people.  However, 
it  was  not  in  human  nature  to  sit  down  and  see  the 
scoundrel  Mildew  triumph  in  such  a  matter  as  that. 
So  I  proposed  to  Margery  to  fly  with  me  to  Salt 
Lake  City  and  be  married  by  a  Gentile  missionary 
that  had  come  to  reside  there.  Once  married,  I 
trusted  to  myself  and  the  help  of  the  good  God  to 
defend  us  both.  After  some  persuasion  she  consent- 
ed. It  was  arranged  that  in  the  early  part  of  the 
day  I  should  take  my  gun,  and,  mounting  my  horse, 
should  ride  out  upon  the  '  bench '  north  of  the  city, 
as  though  I  were  in  pursuit  of  game.  The  jack-rab- 
bits were  very  plenty,  and  we  were  accustomed  to 
hunt  them  on  horseback,  and  shoot  them  from  the 


240         THE  MORMON  PROBLEM — APPENDIX. 

saddle  while  the  horse  was  running.  I  knew  that  in 
this  way  I  could  pretend  to  be  hunting,  and  grad- 
ually make  my  way  without  attracting  attention 
toward  Salt  Lake  City. 

"  In  like  manner  Margery  was  to  take  one  of  her 
father's  horses  and  ride  once  or  twice  about  town,  as 
she  very  often  did,  and  then  gradually  draw  away 
toward  the  shore  of  the  lake,  and,  reaching  it,  follow 
along  the  shore  to  the  northward. 

"  We  were  to  meet  at  the  '  Point  of  the  Mountain,' 
and  proceed  from  thence  together.  We  were  entirely 
successful.  We  reached  the  place  about  sundown, 
and  proceeded  joyfully  to  Salt  Lake  City.  We  were 
married,  Margery  and  I,  and  were  very  happy.  The 
next  day  we  returned  to  Provo.  From  the  fact  that 
we  were  both  absent,  and  that  Margery  had  been  seen 
by  a  fisherman  on  the  lake,  making  her  way  toward 
the  place  of  our  meeting,  it  was  well  enough  known 
what  our  object  had  been,  and  so  no  one  was  surprised 
when  we  proclaimed  our  marriage.  Her  parents  had 
not  opposed  our  union,  and  we  neither  expected  nor 
experienced  any  trouble  from  them.  But  I  suspect- 
ed great  trouble  from  Mildew,  and  Margery  greatly 
feared  it.  How  astonished  were  we,  then,  when  in  a 
few  days  he  came  to  our  home,  laughingly  congratu- 


THE  QUESTION  SUBMITTED. 

lated  us  both,  and  assured  us  of  his  friendship.  We 
were  rejoiced  beyond  measure;  we  had  anticipated 
such  direful  consequences  to  her  father,  who  was 
struggling  with  a  heavy  debt,  and  to  ourselves  in 
one  way  or  another,  from  our  bold  defiance  and  inde- 
pendent action,  that  we  were  only  too  glad  to  make 
friends  with  him,  and,  if  possible,  secure  his  good- 
will. 

"  I  knew,  of  course,  of  the  doctrine  and  practice 
of  polygamy,  but  I  had  come  to  regard  it,  as  I  had 
by  this  time  all  the  doctrines  of  Mormonism,  with 
utter  indifference.  I  could  not  help  knowing  that 
the  whole  thing  was  a  monstrous  fraud,  but  the  sub- 
ject had  ceased  to  interest  me,  and  I  resolved,  for 
Margery's  sake  and  for  all  concerned,  to  comply  out- 
wardly with  the  requirements  of  the  Church,  so  far 
as  I  could,  and  wait  for  a  better  day  to  dawn  upon 
Utah. 

"  One  day  I  returned  from  the  mountains,  whither 
I  had  gone  to  secure  venison  for  our  table,  and  found 
Margery  in  great  distress.  When  I  urged  her  to 
disclose  to  me  the  cause  of  it,  she  answered,  l  Mildew 
has  been  here  and  requested  my  consent  to  be  sealed 
to  him  as  a  spiritual  wife.' 

"  Well,  Mildew  had  solicited  this  relation  with  my 
16 


24:2         THE  MORMON  PROBLEM — APPENDIX. 

wife!  She  was  fairly  on  fire  with  resentment  and 
indignation,  and  yet  was  overcome  with  grief  and 
a  feeling  of  humiliation.  As  for  myself,  I  felt  that 
if  I  could  get  my  hands  upon  him,  I  should  tear 
him  in  pieces.  I  was  wild  with  rage,  and  furious 
with  my  desire  to  meet  the  scoundrel.  But  my  wife 
held  me  under  restraint  until  I  had  become  more 
cool  and  self-possessed,  and  finally  exacted  a  solemn 
promise  from  me  to  do  nothing  violent.  I  went, 
however,  to  the  man  the  next  day,  and  standing  be- 
fore him  looked  him  steadily  in  the  eye,  and  told 
him  that  if  he  ever  presumed  to  speak  to  my  wife 
again  I  would  as  surely  kill  him  as  I  was  a  living 
man.  Not  daring  to  trust  myself  in  his  presence  a 
single  instant,  I  turned  and  left  him. 

"  That  night  armed  men  broke  into  my  house, 
seized  and  blindfolded  me,  and  when  they  had  taken 
me  away  drew  over  me  a  large  coarse  sack,  tied  it 
securely,  and  threw  me  into  the  river.  When  I  had 
nearly  drowned  they  drew  me  out  and  let  me  remain 
on  the  bank  for  a  time,  when  I  was  again  thrown 
into  the  water  as  before.  This  operation  was  repeat- 
ed three  times,  the  villains  meanwhile  discussing 
the  question  of  killing  me  or  allowing  me  to  live. 
Then  I  was  carried  rapidly  away,  taken  to  Salt  Lake 


THE  QUESTION  SUBMITTED.  24:3 

City,  and  thrown  into  the  penitentiary  on  some 
trumped-up  charge,  and  left  there  without  an  exam- 
ination or  trial  of  any  kind  for  eight  months,  with- 
out being  able  to  get  a  single  word  of  tidings  from 
my  wife. 

"  At  last  I  secured  my  liberty  and  hastened  to  my 
home.  I  learned  that  on  the  night  of  the  outrage 
my  wife  had  fled  to  her  father's  house,  and  from  the 
fearful  shock  she  had  received  a  long  and  dangerous 
illness  had  followed.  Upon  her  partial  recovery  the 
miserable  wretch  who  had  occasioned  all  our  trouble 
renewed  his  importunities,  and  even  went  so  far  as 
to  suggest  that  most  damning  feature  of  the  whole 
system  of  polygamy,  proxy  marriage.  This  infamous 
creature  had  proposed  that  relationship  as  my  repre- 
sentative, and  urged  his  suit  the  more  as  I  might 
never  return  to  her. 

"  When  I  did  return  to  my  poor  broken-hearted 
and  invalid  wife  and  learned  these  facts,  I  tell  yon, 
stranger,  I  should  have  become  a  murderer — but  an- 
other hand  had  done  the  work  that  I  now  fairly  cov- 
eted. Mildew  was  shot  through  the  head  on  the 
street  one  day  by  a  desperado  that  he  had  in  some 
way  wronged. 

"My  little  home  was  broken   up.     Several   pay- 


244        THE  MORMON  PROBLEM — APPENDIX. 

merits  had  become  overdue,  and  Mildew  had  secured 
the  foreclosure  and  sale  of  the  premises.  There  was 
not  much  regard  paid  to  law  with  the  favorites  of  the 
priesthood  in  those  days,  and  one's  property  could  be 
taken  away  from  him  arbitrarily  without  any  refer- 
ence to  justice  or  equity.  So,  after  a  time,  I  took 
my  faithful  wife  and  went  to  one  of  the  mining 
towns  in  the  Tintic  District.  I  was  moderately  suc- 
cessful, and,  after  awhile,  returned  with  enough  to 
secure  this  little  home. 

"  But  my  experiences  had  settled  my  relations  with 
the  Church.  I  '  apostatized,'  and  openly  proclaimed 
my  utter  abhorrence  of  the  whole  thing. 

"  And  so,  stranger,  you  have  got  my  story.  If  you 
should  tell  it  to  the  world  they  would  say  that  it  was 
fiction  ;  but  I  wonder,  if  every  day's  history  of  Utah 
was  written,  if  the  world  would  not  deem  it  more 
strange  than  any  fiction  that  ever  came  from  human 
pen. 

"  O  how  little  this  country  knows  of  the  great 
abomination  that  here  exists  under  the  cover  of  relig- 
ion !  And  so  it  keeps  on  talking  about  '  constitu- 
tional guarantees,'  i  worshiping  God  according  to  the 
dictates  of  the  conscience,'  and  the  like,  while  the 
abomination  spreads. 


THE  QUESTION  SUBMITTED. 

"Stranger,  can  you  see  that  mountain  summit 
away  at  the  right  there  ?  It  is  crowned  with  eternal 
snow,  and  sometimes,  when  the  sun  shines  upon  it, 
it  appears  like  a  crown  of  gold.  Over  that  range  at 
the  northward  lie  the  Cotton-wood  Canyons,  with  their 
vast  deposits  of  the  precious  metals,  and  away  at  the 
south-west  is  the  Tintic  District,  with  its  exhaustless 
mines  of  silver  and  copper.  This  valley  itself  is  as 
perfect  a  home  as  Adam's  Eden,  so  far  as  God  can 
make  it  so.  Is  it  not  absurd  that  a  band  of  ruffians, 
by  setting  up  a  claim  to  religious  rights  and  Church 
prerogatives,  are  permitted  by  the  Government  to 
make  it  so  vile,  and  the  abode  of  so  much  misery 
and  bondage  and  crime  ?  Stranger,  when  you  go  to 
the  States  again  suppose  you  ask  the  question  there  " 
— and  I  told  him  I  would.  And  I  hereby  keep  the 
promise. 


246        THE  MORMON  PROBLEM — APPENDIX. 


A    GENTILE    IN    UTAH. 

A  STORY  OF  THE  MORMON  PRIESTHOOD. 


I  AM  a  Gentile  lawyer  in  Salt  Lake  City.  I  have 
had  fifteen  years'  experience  in  Utah,  and  I  propose 
to  give  some  account  of  my  observations  during  that 
time.  I  do  not  discuss  the  s|ate  of  affairs  here  from 
a  partisan  or  even  Christian  stand-point.  It  is  with  a 
feeling  of  genuine  regret  that  I  am  compelled  to 
write  that  I  am  not  a  Christian.  I  am  not  an  infidel, 
but  I  greatly  fear  that  I  am  not  far  removed  from 
that  unhappy  state.  If  I  were  compelled  to  state  the 
causes  that  have  operated  to  hold  me  from  a  religious 
profession  and  life,  I  should  put  them  in  two  words  : 
deportment  and  fraud.  The  first  relates  to  my  life  in 
the  States — the  second  to  my  surroundings  here. 
Before  coming  here  to  practice  my  profession  among 
the  "  Saints,"  I  resided  in  a  lovely  village  in  one  of 
the  New  England  States.  When  I  say  lovely,  I  mean 
lovely  on  account  of  situation  ;  in  other  respects  it 
was  not  lovely.  It  was  a  quaint  old  town.  There 


A  GENTILE  IN  UTAH.  247 

was  but  little  of  the  spirit  and  enterprise  of  modern 
business  life  in  it ;  the  people,  or  at  least  a  majority 
of  them,  were  very  quiet,  very  respectable,  and  very 
comfortably  situated  as  regards  worldly  possessions. 
They  proposed  to  take  life  easily,  to  be  immensely 
wise  and  dignified,  and,  if  possible,  to  compare  favor- 
ably with  the  aristocrats  of  the  land.  It  was  per- 
fectly amusing  to  see  them  cultivate  the  manners  of 
the  millionaires  of  the  great  cities,  while  perhaps  they 
were  really  possessed  of  greater  happiness  than  those 
whose  spirit  and  customs  they  followed.  Well,  the 
churches  took  very  much  the  character  of  the  town, 
and  the  preachers  of  the  churches.  They  greatly 
overdid  the  matter  of  dignity  and  gentility.  When 
assembled  on  the  Sabbath  day  I  could  think  of  but 
little  else,  as  I  beheld  them,  than  old  Mr.  Turveydrop 
in  "  Bleak  House."  They  overwhelmed  me  with  de- 
portment. Now,  I  am  very  well  aware  that  in  a 
matter  so  majestic  and  divine  as  religion  and  religious 
worship  there  should  be  manifested  a  commendable 
degree  of  order  and  solemnity  and  propriety.  But 
these  people  impressed  me  with  the  fact  that  they 
really  cared  to  manifest  but  'little  else.  They  would 
enter  the  church  and  be  seated,  participate  in  the 
forms  of  service,  and  retire,  not  so  much  in  a  spirit 


248        THE  MORMON  PROBLEM — APPENDIX. 

of  reverential  and  humble  worship,  as  with  a  sense  of 
painful  apprehension  that  they  might  not  manifest 
the  proper  degree  of  deportment.  The  pastors,  witli 
one  or  two  exceptions,  would  enter  the  pulpit  with 
an  evident  feeling  that  they  were  now  the  supreme 
embodiment  and  incarnation  of  deportment.  They 
would  raise  their  eyes  about  half-way  to  the  ceiling, 
look  first  to  the  right  of  the  pulpit,  then  to  the  left, 
and  finally  arise  and  with  great,  very  great,  method 
of  speech  and  pronunciation,  and  with  affected  spirit 
and  bearing,  proceed  with  the  service. 

O  how  I  did  long  for  a  little  of  pathos  and  soul- 
stirring  appeal,  and  a  little  of  that  which  should 
awaken  the  emotions  of  my  nature,  as  they  would  be 
awakened  by  orators  upon  the  platform  and  else- 
where !  And  how  I  did  wonder  if  these  embassadors 
of  God  would  ever  impress  the  people  with  the  fact 
that  God  was  love,  and  that  his  house  should  be  a 
place  of  sunshine  and  benediction,  while  in  his  wor- 
ship all  hearts-  should  unite  with  a  spirit  very  much 
like  that  which  pervades  the  company  that  worships 
in  heaven. 

But  it  was  so  cold  and  distant  and  formal  and  un- 
feeling, with  such  a  magnificent  display  of  deport- 
ment, that  I  never  came  under  the  influence  of  a  de- 


A  GENTILE  IN  UTAH.  249 

votional  spirit,  and  never  was  attracted  to  the  cross. 
I  cannot  help  thinking  now,  that  if  some  one  of  these 
had  spoken  occasionally  as  their  Master  did  when, 
stretching  out  his  hands  to  a  weary  world,  he  cried, 
"  Come  unto  me,  all  ye  that  labor  and  are  heavy 
laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest :  take  my  yoke  upon 
you,  and  learn  of  me ;  for  I  am  meek  and  lowly  in 
heart:  and  ye  shall  find  rest  unto  your  souls:  for 
my  yoke  is  easy,  and  my  burden  is  light—  I  say, 
that  if  that  message,  in  its  sweetness  and  power,  had 
oftener  fallen  upon  my  ears,  I  might  have  been  led 
to  abhor  sin  and  find  the  bosom  of  God.  I  am  not 
attempting  to  defend  myself  or  reason  upon  my 
course,  but  only  to  state  the  facts  in  my  case. 

Well,  after  a  time  I  escaped  from  this  ministry  of 
deportment  and  came  to  Utah,  only  to  find  the  next 
manifestation  of  religion  one  of  fraud. 

I  found  a  treasonable  theocratic  despotism  estab- 
lished in  these  beautiful  valleys  under  the  name  of  a 
Church.  I  found  oppression,  licentiousness,  murder, 
and  all  manner  of  lawlessness  existing  under  the 
guise  of  religion ;  while  for  half  a  century  a  Christian 
nation  had  allowed  it  all  to  thrive  and  advance  under 
what  was  claimed  to  be  the  constitutional  guaranty  of 
religious  liberty.  Then  I  suppose  that  the  general 


250        THE  MORMON  PROBLEM — APPENDIX. 

influences  of  frontier  life  have  not  been  helpful  to 
me,  and  so  it  comes  to  pass  that,  despite  the  instruc- 
tions of  my  earlier  years,  I  am  not  a  Christian. 

And  yet  I  have  some  interest  in  the  religious  side 
of  this  Mormon  question.  I  am  profoundly  con- 
vinced that  this  Territory  can  never  be  fully  Amer- 
icanized except  by  churches  and  schools,  and  all  the 
appliances  of  civilization  that  can  go  with  these. 
Nevertheless  these  agencies  can  never  overthrow 
Mormonism  without  the  help  of  the  National  Legis- 
lature. 

The  schools  are  making  rapid  progress,  but  before 
the  children  are  educated  and  developed  as  true 
American  citizens,  Mormonism,  at  its  present  rate  of 
increase,  will  become  such  an  institution  of  strength 
that  neither  the  Church  nor  the  Nation  can  well 
grapple  with  it. 

The  remedy  lies  in  such  legislation  by  Congress 
as  will  demolish  the  government  that  the  so-called 
Church  has  established  over  the  Territory,  and  by 
which  Church  the  American  Government  and  laws 
are  nullified.  The  difficulty  lies  in  obtaining  this 
legislation.  But  I  will  proceed  to  relate  my  story. 

In  the  year  1873  there  lived  in  Provo  Yalley  a 
young  man  by  the  name  of  liarter.  He  belonged  to 


A  GENTILE  IN  UTAH.  251 

a  family  of  "  apostates."  Two  of  his  uncles  were 
among  the  vilest  of  polygamists  and  most  subservient 
subordinates  of  the  priesthood ;  but  the  father,  a 
person  of  more  manhood  than  his  two  brothers,  had 
defied  the  Church  and  apostatized.  His  sons  had 
followed  him ;  and  now  the  whole  family  were  under 
the  ban,  and  were  having  a  hard  struggle  to  maintain 
themselves  with  any  degree  of  comfort.  Young 
llarter  was  particularly  obnoxious  to  the  priestly 
rulers  for  the  following  reason  : 

It  was  well  known  that  many  who  had  personal 
knowledge  of  the  Mountain  Meadows  massacre  re- 
sided in  this  valley,  and  that  some  who  participated 
in  that  horrid  butchery  were  among  them.  There 
was  an  old  deserted  building  standing  in  Provo 
known  as  the  "  haunted  house."  It  was  claimed  that 
soon  after  the  massacre  a  quantity  of  goods  belonging 
to  the  victims  had  been  stored  here,  and  that  the  few 
children  who  had  been  spared  were  for  a  time  kept 
in  this  building;  and  that  years  afterward  lights 
were  often  seen  in  the  various  rooms,  and  shrieks  and 
cries  like  those  uttered  by  the  men  and  women  as 
they  were  slain  could  be  heard  proceeding  therefrom. 
Hence  the  building  was  known  and  avoided  as  the 
haunted  house.  It  was  an  adobe  structure,  and  had 


252         THE  MORMON  PROBLEM — APPENDIX. 

been  long  unoccupied.  A  year  or  two  previous  to 
the  date  before  given,  young  Harter  was  returning 
from  a  visit  to  his  betrothed  one  night,  and  thought 
as  he  was  about  to  pass  this  house  that  he  heard  voices 
therein.  He  was  a  brave  and  manly  fellow,  and  su- 
perior to  any  superstitious  fears  regarding  the  local- 
ity ;  so  he  secreted  himself  under  one  of  the  open 
windows  and  listened.  He  had  been  there  but  a  few 
moments  when  he  heard  the  conversation  between 
certain  members  of  the  priesthood  who  had  met  there 
to  discuss  the  facts  concerning  the  massacre  that  were 
just  beginning  to  find  publicity  through  the  press, 
and  the  measures  that  would  probably  follow  for  the 
detection  and  punishment  of  the  guilty  parties.  The 
conversation  implicated  Brigham  Young,  George  A. 
Smith,  and  others  in  high  authority,  and  several  sub- 
ordinates residing  in  Prove,  among  them  a  certain 
"•elder "  of  the  city.  Harter  was  discovered,  but 
saved  himself  by  flight,  and  for  his  protection  caused 
it  to  be  known  that  he  had  come  into  possession  of 
important  facts  that  could  be  used  in  the  courts  if  the 
perpetrators  of  the  crime  should  be  brought  to  trial. 
His  idea  was,  that  by  stating  so  much  of  what  he 
knew  without  designating  any  of  the  individuals 
concerned,  they  would  fear  to  assassinate  him,  lest 


A  GENTILE  IN  UTAH.  253 

by  so  doing  they  would  attract  attention  to  such  a 
method  of  removing  witnesses,  and  also  implicate 
themselves  as  interested  in  removing  him  for  such  a 
purpose.  He  was  only  partially  right  in  his  conject- 
ures as  to  this  means  of  safety ;  for  while  he  was 
not  killed,  repeated  efforts  were  made  to  involve  him 
in  broils,  and  expose  him  to  quarrels  with  men  among 
whom  the  pistol  and  knife  were  more  frequently  re- 
sorted to  in  settling  disputes  than  blows.  But  he  suc- 
ceeded in  avoiding  such  encounters  and  went  about  his 
work  in  the  mines,  carrying  with  him  the  secret  that 
had  so  unexpectedly  come  into  his  possession.  It  must 
be  said  of  him  that  he  was  at  times  given  to  strong 
drink.  He  did  not  indulge  to  the  extent  of  excessive 
intoxication,  but,  in  common  with  the  great  mass  of 
people  about  him,  he  was  not  entirely  free  from  the 
debasing  habit.  One  day  he  met  a  few  of  his  mining 
associates  at  the  Church  liquor  store  in  Provo,  and 
imbibed  rather  freely  with  them,  indulging  in  con- 
siderable hilarity.  The  company  finally  emerged 
from  the  building  and  gathered  in  front  of  it,  when 
a  member  of  the  city  police,  who  was  also  a  member 
of  the  priesthood,  came  up  and  proposed  to  arrest 
him.  He  had  his  hand  upon  a  pistol  that  he  carried 
in  his  belt,  probably  intending  to  shoot  him  in  case 


25tt        THE  MOIIMON  PROBLEM — APPENDIX. 

of  resistance  to  the  arrest,  and  thus  dispose  of  the 
dangerous  witness.  But  Barter  was  too  quick  for 
him.  Instantly  drawing  a  Colt's  navy  revolver  he 
leveled  it  at  the  officer's  head,  and  cried : 

"  Stop  where  you  are  !  For  two  years  my  steps  have 
been  dogged  every-where.  You  and  your  masters 
have  done  your  utmost  to  involve  me  in  some  pre- 
tended crime  or  quarrel  or  other  difficulty,  so  as  to 
afford  a  pretext  for  my  arrest  or  for  shooting  me  out- 
right. I  know  I  have  been  drinking,  but  I  am  not 
drunk  nor  have  I  been  disturbing  the  peace.  Before 
night  you  can  find  half  a  dozen  of  your  priesthood  on 
this  street  more  drunk  and  boisterous  than  I.  You 
intended  to  arrest  me,  and,  if  I  made  a  show  of  re- 
sistance, to  murder  me,  and  thus  get  me  and  my  dan- 
gerous secret  out  of  the  way.  But  I've  got  the  drop 
on  you.  I  wont  stand  this  thing  any  longer.  You 
intend  to  hound  me  down,  and  the  matter  has  got  to 
culminate  sooner  or  later.  It  might  as  well  be  settled 
now.  Advance  another  inch,  and  I  swear  by  the 
Almighty  God  I'll  shoot  you  in  your  tracks." 

His  eyes  were  fairly  flaming  ;  his  lips  became  firmly 
pressed  upon  his  set  teeth ;  his  form  was  as  rigid  and 
motionless  as  marble  ;  and  the  long  glittering  pistol, 
pointing  square  in  his  opponent's  face,  did  not  vacil- 


A  GENTILE  IN  UTAH.  255 

late.  Take  care,  you  subservient  tool  of  a  gang  of 
sneaking  and  everlasting  murderers !  it  is  dangerous 
for  you  to  stir  a  liair's-breadtli.  Do  but  incline 
your  head  ever  so  little  toward  that  persecuted  and 
outraged  man,  and  your  complicity  in  crime  will  have 
its  reward,  regardless  of  your  hackneyed  claim  that 
you  will  worship  God  according  to  the  dictates  of 
your  own  conscience !  Do  riot  move  a  muscle,  unless 
it  be  to  draw  backward,  and  that  quickly !  But  he 
did  move,  and  attempted  to  move  forward,  and  fell 
upon  the  ground  shot  through  the  head  by  Harter. 

Instantly  upon  firing  the  pistol  he  sprung  from 
the  crowd  and  rushed  to  his  father's  house,  before 
which  a  saddled  horse  happened  to  be  standing. 
Springing  into  the  saddle  he  darted  away  toward  the 
mountains,  and  before  any  were  in  readiness  to  pur- 
sue had  reached  the  river,  a  mile  distant.  Here  he 
dismounted  and  fastened  the  horse  in  the  midst  of 
the  deep  shrubbery  and  undergrowth  which  covered 
the  river  bottom,  and  also  secreted  himself,  so  that 
neither  the  horse  nor  himself  could  be  seen.  A  few 
moments  afterward  a  half-dozen  or  more  came  rush- 
ing on  in  pursuit;  but  who,  supposing  that  lie  had 
continued  his  flight  to  the  mountains,  never  for  a  mo- 
ment thought  to  stop  and  examine  the  vicinity  of  the 


256         THE  MORMON  PROBLEM — APPENDIX. 

river.  Ilarter  lay  concealed  until  night,  when  he 
turned  the  horse  loose  and  was  glad  to  see  that  he 
betook  himself  immediately  up  the  river  to  the  foot- 
hills, which  had  been  his  former  pasturage  grounds. 
Here  he  was  found  a  few  days  afterward,  thereby 
strengthening  the  impression  that  the  fugitive  had 
fled  to  the  mountains.  No  one  supposed  that  he  had 
stopped  so  near  the  town,  and  so  it  was  with  com- 
parative safety  that  lie  effected  his  purpose ;  this  was, 
to  return  to  the  city,  obtain  money  and  provisions, 
and,  if  possible,  take  leave  of  his  affianced  wife,  to 
whom  he  was  deeply  devoted. 

He  crawled  upon  the  earth  until  he  reached  a  safe 
distance  from  the  road,  and  then  he  proceeded  boldly 
to  her  father's  house.  He  succeeded  in  calling  her 
from  the  house  without  arousing  the  family.  The 
interview  was  deeply  affecting.  He  said  to  her  that 
he  had  no  excuse  for  the  deed  beyond  the  facts  that 
she  already  knew ;  that  he  had  simply  come  to  take 
his  final  leave  of  her,  and  that  beyond  any  doubt 
he  would  soon  be  in  his  grave.  "For,"  said  he, 
"although  I  shall  do  my  very  best  to  escape,  the 
chances  are  exceedingly  small ;  I  shall,  doubtless,  be 
arrested ;  my  trial  will  follow,  and  my  conviction  is 
sure ;  then  the  end  will  come  speedily.  If  by  any 


A  GENTILE  IN  UTAH.  257 

• 

means  I  should  escape  the  worst  penalty  of  the  law, 
it  will  make  but  little  difference.  For  two  years  the 
Mormon  priesthood  have  been  hunting  me  down. 
Had  I  not  shot  this  man  to-day  he  would  have  shot 
me ;  he  counted  upon  resistance  on  my  part,  and 
had  his  hand  upun  his  pistol  with  the  purpose, 
plainly  revealed  in  his  face,  to  use  it  as  he  advanced 
upon  me.  I  have  been  a  doomed  man  ever  since  I 
came  into  possession  of  that  fatal  secret  that  impli- 
cated certain  rulers  of  the  Church  in  the  massacre  of 
twenty  years  ago.  They  have  at  last  driven  me  to 
an  act  that  places  me  in  their  power.  There  is  no 
hope  for  me.  Sooner  or  later,  by  fair  means  or  foul, 
by  process  of  law  or  otherwise,  I  must  die.  You  and 
I  both  know  too  much  of  the  Mormon  priesthood  to 
hope  for  my  life  now." 

No  one  can  understand  the  distress  of  the  poor 
girl.  She  knew  that  every  word  that  her  lover  said 
was  true.  She  understood  that  he  had  killed  a  man 
that  day,  but  she  knew  also  that  he  really  did  so 
in  defense  of  his  own  life  as  against  a  long  existing 
conspiracy  to  deprive  him  of  it.  She  well  knew  how 
generous  and  noble  he  was  in  nature,  how  true  in 
heart,  and  how  incapable,  under  other  circumstances, 

of  harming  any  one ;  moreover  she  loved  him  with 
17 


258        THE  MORMON  PROBLEM — APPENDIX. 

• 

all  her  soul.  And  yet  from  the  moment  that  he  left 
her,  although  alive,  still  he  was  dead.  Her  living- 
love,  and  yet  dead !  There  is  no  sorrow  like  it  in  this 
world.  She  could  not  hope  to  be  near  him  in  his 
last  hour.  He  might  perish  in  his  attempted  flight, 
might  be  shot  down  by  officers  of  the  law,  or  might  be 
executed  after  due  trial.  She  might  be  denied  the 
poor  comfort  of  knowing  and  visiting  his  grave. 
Forth  from  her  presence  he  must  now  go  to  meet  his 
doom  alone.  The  suffering  woman  could  not  endure 
it,  and  at  last  she  fell  unconscious  upon  the  ground. 
Then  he  left  her,  with  such  bitterness  in  his  soul  as 
but  few  mortals  ever  know  on  earth. 

During  the  interview  Harter  informed  her  that  for 
two  or  three  days  he  should  remain  concealed  at  a 
certain  point  on  the  river,  and  bade  her  inform  his 
father.  She  did  so,  and  the  following  day  food  and 
money  were  taken  to  him.  He  tarried  here,  in  fact, 
nearly  a  week.  One  night  he  took  a  boat  from  the 
river  bank  and  drifted  down  the  current  and  out 
upon  the  lake.  Then  he  took  the  oars  and  pulled 
vigorously  to  its  southern  extremity  near  Payson, 
where  he  sunk  the  boat  in  shallow  water  and  struck 
out  across  the  country,  intending  to  make  his  way 
through  to  Southern  California.  Finding  this,  how- 


GENTILE  IN  UTAH.  259 

ever,  to  be  impracticable,  he  returned  to  the  boat, 
and  raising  it  from  the  bottom  proceeded  in  it  to  the 
foot  of  the  lake  in  the  northern  part  of  the  valley, 
from  which  point  he  attempted  to  make  his  way  into 
Nevada.  But  every  avenue  of  escape  from  the  Ter- 
ritory was  swarming  with  the  spies  of  the  priesthood. 
One  night,  as  he  was  entering  the  canyon  through 
which  the  old  emigrant  route  lay,  a  lasso  was  thrown 
from  an  overhanging  cliff,  and  falling  around  his 
body  was  drawn  taut,  securely  fastening  both  his 
arms  to  his  sides.  He  was  immediately  drawn  up 
the  ragged  sides  of  the  precipice,  and  in  a  few  min- 
utes, bruised  and  bleeding,  found  himself  in  the 
hands  of  his  enemies. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  give  in  detail  what  fol- 
lowed, more  than  to  say  that  Harter  was  brought  to 
Provo,  waived  examination,  and  was  held  by  the 
grand  jury  for  trial  at  the  next  session  of  the  district 
court. 

Meanwhile  I  had,  with  two  associates,  been  retained 
by  his  father  for  the  defense.  We  found  it  possible 
to  establish  several  important  facts,  to  wit :  that 
Harter  was  particularly  hated  and  persecuted  by  the 
leaders  of  the  Church ;  that  on  several  occasions  omi- 
nous hints,  and  even  threats  concerning  his  taking  off, 


260        THE  MORMON  PROBLEM — APPENDIX. 

had  been  indulged  in ;  that  his  victim  had  been  spe- 
cially directed  to  keep  him  under  surveillance,  and 
that  at  the  time  of  the  tragedy  the  murdered  man 
was  in  the  act  of  drawing  a  pistol  as  he  advanced 
upon  Harter.  Under  ordinary  circumstances  it 
would  be  expected  that  a  favorable  verdict  could 
be  obtained.  But  the  difficulty  in  the  case  did  not 
lie  in  the  evidence;  the  trouble  was  with  the  jury 
system  which  prevailed  in  Utah. 

It  was  well  known  to  us  that  juries  were  controlled 
almost  wholly  by  the  priesthood,  regardless  of  evi- 
dence. If  a  man  committed  a  crime  in  the  interests 
of  "  Zion,"  though  a  score  might  testify  to  the  fact, 
he  could  not  be  found  guilty ;  and  when  it  became 
necessary  to  convict  and  punish  a  man  for  an  offense 
against  the  Mormon  leaders,  no  amount  of  favorable 
testimony  could  save  him.  A  United  States  district 
attorney  once  told  me,  that  he  had  in  his  possession 
evidence  enough  to  hang  the  first  presidency  of  the 
Church  twenty  times  over,  but  that  one  might  as 
well  go  among  a  gang  of  horse- thieves  and  try  one 
of  the  number  for  horse  stealing,  with  his  comrades 
for  a  jury,  as  to  attempt  to  convict  a  Mormon  high 
in  authority  for  a  crime  committed  in  the  inter- 
ests of  Mormonism.  How,  then,  could  we  hope  to 


A  GENTILE  IN  UTAH.  261 

save  poor  Harter  when  for  two  years  the  whole 
priestly  organization  had  determined  upon  his 
removal  ? 

It  was  just  at  this  time  that  the  "  Poland  bill "  was 
pending  in  Congress.  It  provided  for  a  new  election 
law,  regulated  the  jurisdiction  of  courts  which  a 
Mormon  Legislature  had  arranged  to  suit  itself,  and 
contained  such  a  revision  of  the  jury  system  as  would 
exclude  all  biased  jurors,  whether  a  cause  to  be  tried 
had  reference  to  Church  affairs  or  not.  The  greatest 
interest  was  taken  in  it  by  all  non-Mormons  in  Utah. 
Every  arrangement  was  made  to  place  before  Con- 
gress the  fullest  information  as  to  the  anomalous  state 
of  affairs  in  that  Territory.  An  able  delegate  from 
Montana  reviewed,  upon  the  floor  of  the  House  of 
Representatives,  the  unwarranted  legislation  of  the 
Church  dignitaries  during  the  entire  history  of  the 
Territorial  government.  He  clearly  set  forth  the  fact, 
that  in  the  heart  of  this  Republic  a  priestly  oligarchy 
had  built  up  a  theocratic  despotism,  and  fortified 
their  position  by  the  enactment  of  such  laws  as  gave 
them  all  power,  until  such  a  code  of  criminal  and  civil 
laws  existed,  and  such  methods  of  local  government 
prevailed,  as  could  not  be  found  in  any  civilized  coun- 
try on  earth.  The  measures  of  the  proposed  law  were 


262         THE  MORMON  PROBLEM — APPENDIX. 

shown    to  be   wise,  just,  and  American,  and   their 
adoption  was  strongly  urged. 

I  was  particularly  interested  on  account  of  Hart- 
er.  I  knew  that  if  the  Pola'nd  bill  became  a  law,  the 
chances  for  acquittal  in  his  case  would  be  increased  a 
thousand-fold ;  and  I  was  also  anxious  that  this  lim- 
itation should  be  placed  upon  Mormon  power,  and 
this  blow  at  absolute  and  lawless  despotism  should 
be  delivered.  I  did  not  see  how  Congress  could  fail 
to  do  this.  At  this  time,  in  the  matter  of  elections,  a 
system  of  marked  ballots  prevailed  by  which  the 
priesthood  could  ascertain  precisely  how  every  subor- 
dinate and  every  layman  voted,  and  thus  a  relentless 
priestly  censorship  was  established  over  the  ballot- 
box.  As  to  the  courts,  even  probate  courts,  consti- 
tuted by  Mormon  government,  had  jurisdiction  in 
divorce  suits  and  in  criminal  and  civil  causes.  As  to 
the  jury  system,  a  polygamist  could  sit  on  a  jury  when 
a  Mormon  was  to  be  tried  for  polygamy;  in  fact,  there 
was  a  subversion  of  all  rightful  government  and  law, 
and  the  Poland  bill  had  been  framed  with  a  view  to 
the  correction  of  these  evils.  It  seemed  to  me,  as  it 
did  to  others,  that  it  must  become  a  law.  Then 
appeared  the  wonderful  resources  of  the  hierarchy. 
Through  the  management  of  two  representatives  the 


A  GENTILE  IN  UTAH.  2G3 

bill  was  long  delayed  in  committee ;  then  when  it 
was  reported  to  the  House  it  was  delayed  by  long 
debate  and  finally  sent  back  to  the  committee;  then 
it  was  returned  to  the  House,  and  experienced  an- 
other long  delay  through  the  efforts  of  these  two 
men  ;  at  last,  and  after  these  members  had  exhausted 
all  parliamentary  tactics  to  prevent,  it  came  to  a  vote 
and  passed  the  House  and  went  to  the  Senate.  Here 
a  senator  was  found  who  bitterly  opposed  it,  and 
would  only  withdraw  his  opposition  upon  the  accept- 
ance of  certain  amendments  that  removed  the  most 
stringent  features  of  the  bill.  It  had  now  come  to 
be  the  last  day,  and  even  the  last  hour,  of  this  session 
of  Congress.  This  man  had  it  in  his  power  to  delay 
action  until  the  adjournment  should  be  reached,  and 
the  bill  thereby  fall  to  the  ground.  Its  friends 
thought  that  the  moral  effect  of  any  legislation  would 
be  a  little  gain,  and  so,  rather  than  wholly  fail,  the 
amendments  were  agreed  to,  and  the  bill  returned  to 
the  House  for  concurrence  within  fifteen  minutes  of 
final  adjournment.  It  passed  that  body  as  it  came 
from  the  Senate  and  became  a  law,  but  it  was  power- 
less fo**good  in  Utah. 

Here  is  the  answer  to  the  oft- repeated  question, 
"  Why  does  not  our  National  Legislature  break  the 


2C4        THE  MORMON  PROBLEM — APPENDIX. 

Mormon  power  ? "  The  fact  is,  that  since  the  law  of 
1862  against  polygamy,  which  did  not  touch  the  root 
of  the  evil,  none  but  weak  and  inefficient  measures 
have  been  allowed  to  become  laws.  The  Mormon 
hierarchy  does  not  attempt  to  buy  up  the  whole 
American  Congress ;  but  it  does  manage  to  secure 
in  each  House  one  or  two  prominent  members,  who, 
by  parliamentary  methods,  delay  action,  secure  amend- 
ments, etc.,  till  each  session  adjourns  and  nothing 
effective  has  been  done.  Head  the  whole  history  of 
attempted  legislation  for  Utah  for  the  last  twenty 
years !  Presidents  have  many  times  recommended 
adequate  remedies  for  the  great  evil  ;  measures 
enough  have  been  introduced  at  every  session  ;  Con- 
gress has  always  had  full  power  to  repeal  every  im- 
proper and  unconstitutional  act  of  a  Mormon  Legisla- 
ture, and  to  erect  such  a  government  over  the  Terri- 
tory of  Utah  as  the  interests  and  well  being  of  Amer- 
icanism demanded  ;  public  opinion  has  all  been  on  one 
side,  and  the  press  has  almost  universally  supported 
that  opinion  ;  and  yet  year  after  year  every  effective 
measure  has  been  fought  off  until  it  has  fallen  to  the 
ground !  Weak  and  inoperative  laws  have  once  or 
twice  been  secured  directed  chiefly  against  that  inci- 
dent of  Mormonism — polygamy,  while  the  mighty 


A  GENTILE  IN  UTAH.  205 

despotism  and  treasonable  system  of  crime  and  law- 
lessness has  been  allowed  to  grow. 

I  now  return,  for  this  time,  to  my  story.  I  said 
that  I  was  not  a  Christian,  and  yet  I  have  had  to 
minister  as  a  Christian  to  one  of  the  purest  souls  that 
ever  graced  this  world.  Some  days  after  Ilarter  had 
been  committed  for  trial  his  betrothed  waited  upon 
me  at  my  office,  and  at  the  close  of  a  sorrowful  in- 
terview asked  if  I  could  furnish  her  with  a  Bible. 
She  had  never  seen  one.  She  knew  nothing  of  its 
teachings  and  nothing  of  its  creeds  or  doctrines.  She 
had  been  instructed  in  the  tenets  of  the  Mormon 
faith  and  was  acquainted  with  its  absurd  superstitions 
and  claims ;  but  her  heart  had  intuitively  repelled  all 
these,  while  she  had  a  confused  idea  of  God  and  her 
relations  with  him.  She  had  heard  that  the  Bible 
was  the  foundation  of  the  faith  of  the  Christian  world, 
and  of  that  better  type  of  civilization  and  condition 
of  society  of  which  the  young  people  of  Utah  were 
beginning  to  have  some  indistinct  knowledge.  And 
so,  after  she  had  learned  from  me  what  she  could  as 
to  the  condition  of  her  lover,  she  tearfully  requested 
a  copy  of  the  word  of  God.  I  furnished  it  gladly, 
and  she  went  away.  A  little  before  the  trial  she  came 
to  me  again,  bringing  it  with  her.  She  had  almost  de- 


266         THE  MORMON  PROBLEM — APPENDIX. 

voured  it ;  she  had  read  the  entire  book  through  once 
and  the  New  Testament  several  times.  From  it  she 
evolved  the  truth  that  she  had  a  Father  in  heaven 
who  loved  and  pitied  her,  and  unto  whom  she  might 
open  her  heart  in  prayer.  She  had  particularly 
feasted  her  mind  with  the  portraiture  of  the  Sav- 
iour's character  and  with  his  tender  and  loving  words. 
She  was  charmed  and  fascinated  with  the  purity  and 
refinement  of  all  its  teachings  concerning  human 
character  and  life,  an'd  with  the  transporting  views 
it  opened  to  her  of  the  life  to  come.  She  turned  to 
a  passage,  and  read :  "  The  tabernacle  of  God  is  with 
men,  and  he  will  dwell  with  them,  and  they  shall  be 
his  people,  and  God  himself  shall  be  with  them,  and 
be  their  God.  And  God  shall  wipe  away  all  tears 
from  their  eyes ;  and  there  shall  be  no  more  death, 
neither  sorrow,  nor  crying,  neither  shall  there  be  any 
more  pain :  for  the  former  tilings  are  passed  away." 
Her  face  glowed  as  writh  the  light  of  eternity's  sun 
while  she  read  it,  and  she  said,  with  earnestness,  "  O 
how  different,  how  very  different  from  this  dark  and 
troubled  world  it  will  be  ! " 

Then  she  turned  to  another  passage,  and  read  :  "  If 
ye  shall  ask  any  thing  in  my  name  I  will  do  it."  She 
repeated  the  words  "any  thing,  any  thing"  and  turn- 


A  GENTILE  IN  UTAH.  267 

ing  her  eyes  fully  upon  me,  she -asked,  "Does  it  mean 
that  ? "  Now  I  had  never  before  been  called  upon  to 
expound  the  Scriptures  as  a  religious  instructor  and 
guide  to  a  hungry  soul ;  it  did  not  belong  to  my  pro- 
fession ;  I  did  not  feel  qualified ;  and  besides,  as  I 
have  already  intimated,  I  was  not  a  firm  believer  in 
these  things  myself.  But  for  all  the  world  I  could  not 
have  thrown  any  doubt  concerning  her  only  source 
of  comfort  and  hope  into  her  troubled  mind.  So  I 
answered  that  those  were  undoubtedly  the  words  of 
the  S.on  of  Man,  and  that"  the  language  seemed  to  be 
very  plain.  "  But,"  she  said,  "  it  says  '  any  thing, 
any  thing?  Can  I  ask  'any  thing,'  even  the  life  of 
my  darling  yonder  in  the  prison,  upon  the  strength 
of  this  promise  ?  "  I  was  now  in  a  fearful  dilemma  ; 
I  had  but  little  hope  that  Harter  could  be  acquitted, 
and  I  frankly  told  her  so.  But  I  added,  "  I  suppose 
that  we  must  interpret  that  passage  in  the  light  of 
the  whole  Bible,  and  not  the  whole  Bible  in  the  light 
of  that  one  passage.  The  book  teaches  that  there  are 
some  things  that  God  himself  cannot  do.  It  is  very 
evident  that  he  does  not  always  control  men.  He 
has  committed  unto  men  the  fearful  responsibility 
that  goes  with  the  power  of  voluntary  action.  Men 
may  do  as  they  please,  although  they  are  accountable 


2G8         THE  MORMON  PROBLEM— APPENDIX. 

to  him.  And,  moreover,  I  suppose  that  we  mortals, 
limited  as  we  are  in  knowledge,  and  only  in  the  in- 
fancy of  our  own  being,  can  only  reasonably  ask  those 
things  that  accord  with  the  infinite  wisdom  and  far- 
reaching  purpose  of  God.  I  think,  therefore,  that 
the  text  you  have  quoted  is  to  be  understood  in  such 
a  modified  and  limited  sense.  A  child,  for  instance, 
might  ask  of  its  mother  a  razor  as  a  toy,  and  feel 
deeply  grieved  that  it  should  be  denied.  And  yet 
there  would  be  a  moral  impossibility  as  to  the  request, 
arising  from  the  very  goodness  of  the  mother's  heart; 
and  the  sorrow  she  gave  to  her  child  would  be  an 
infinitely  greater  blessing  than  to  have  conferred  the 
coveted  toy." 

That  is  the  nearest  I  ever  came  to  being  a. preacher, 
and  I  do  not  know  if  my  sermon  would  meet  the  ap- 
proval of  the  divines.  But  it  satisfied  and  comforted 
my  visitor.  She  only  answered :  "  I  could  not  ask  of 
God  that  my  darling  should  go  unpunished.  I  might 
ask  it  of  man,  but  when  I  come  to  talk  with  God  it 
is  different.  I  know  that  he  ought  not  to  have  killed 
that  man,  for  it  was  by  no  means  certain  that  his  own 
life  was  in  immediate  danger.  But  if  I  might  dare 
to  ask  that  his  life  might  be  spared,  that  he  might  so 
have  opportunity,  and  by  God's  grace  the  disposition, 


A  GENTILE  IN  UTAH.  269 

to  learn  from  this  book  before  lie  dies,  I  should  be 
so  happy." 

She  went  away,  and  I  subsequently  learned  that 
she  gave  herself  to  constant  reading  of  the  Scriptures 
and  prayer  until  the  end  was  reached.  It  came  soon 
enough.  Harter  had  been  indicted  for  murder  in  the 
first  degree.  As  already  intimated,  our  defense  was 
"  justifiable  homicide."  My  associates  were  able  and 
experienced  attorneys;  every  possible  effort  was  made 
to  save  the  unfortunate  man,  and  we  did  succeed  in 
obtaining  a  verdict  for  manslaughter. 

I  have  always  believed  that  the  priesthood  were 
afraid  of  public  opinion  in  dealing  with  Harter,  and 
managed  to  convey  their  wish  for  such  a  verdict  to 
the  jury  through  the  prosecuting  attorney.  I  know 
that  the  conviction  of  Lee,  the  unfortunate"  tool  of 
the  priesthood  in  the  Mountain  Meadows  massacre, 
was  obtained  in  precisely  this  way.  Brigham  Young 
threw  Lee  as  a  sop  to  justice,  to  satisfy  the  public 
demand  and  to  turn  public  attention  from  himself. 

Harter  received  his  verdict  with  indifference.  He 
said  to  me  that  sooner  or  later  they  would  kill  him, 
and  his  only  satisfaction  with  the  verdict  arose  from 
the  fact  that  his  assassination  would  be  less  painful  to 
his  friends  than  his  execution  under  sentence  of  the 


270         THE  MORMON  PROBLEM— APPENDIX. 

law.  His  sentence  was  twenty  years'  imprisonment 
in  the  penitentiary  at  Salt  Lake  City.  He  was  duly 
confined,  and  remained  in  prison  for  about  eight 
months,  when  the  following  events  occurred : 

One  day  a  basket  of  delicious  fruit  was  conveyed 
to  Harter  from  his  friends,  as  had,  in  fact,  been  con- 
stantly allowed  during  his  confinement.  But  upon 
examining  this  basket,  a  block  of  a  key  and  a  file  were 
found  carefully  concealed  at  the  bottom.  Harter  sup- 
posed it  had  been  put  there  by  his  friends,  and  he 
was  in  no  mood  to  remain  a  prisoner,  if  he  could 
escape.  About  the  same  time  a  fellow-prisoner  told 
Harter  that  he  also  had  received  from  outside  friends 
implements  whereby  they  could  get  free;  and,  con- 
ferring together,  they  laid  their  plans,  and  in  due 
time  carried  them  into  effect.  They  succeeded  easily 
in  getting  outside  the  prison  walls,  when  Harter  was 
shot  down  by  men  lying  in  ambush  for  the  purpose. 

The  implements  had  been  secreted  in  the  basket  by 
the  prison  officials ;  the  confederate  was  one  of  their 
own  spies ;  and  the  whole  affair  had  been  planned  by 
the  priesthood  to  give  opportunity  for  killing  Harter. 
It  was  one  of  their  old  methods  of  removing  obnox- 
ious men,  and  by  it  they  had  at  last  got  rid  of  the 
dangerous  witness. 


THE  MOUNTAIN  MEADOWS  MASSACKE.       271 


THE   MOUNTAIN    MEADOWS   MASSACRE 

OF  1857. 


THE  following  is  probably  the  most  complete  and 
truthful  account  of  this  dreadful  event  ever  pub- 
lished. It  was  furnished  the  "  Chicago  Tribune  "  by 
a  special  correspondent  in  January,  1875.  It  is  alto- 
gether too  valuable  an  historic  paper  to  be  lost.  The 
details  were  gathered  with  the  utmost  care,  and  are 
related  with  the  strictest  regard  for  accuracy.  Many 
of  these  details  I  have  also  heard  from  old  residents  of 
Utah,  some  of  whom  had  personal  knowledge  of  the 
same.  I  have  thought  it  best  to  present  the  whole 
story  to  the  world  in  this  form,  as  given  by  the  nar- 
rator, with  only  a  few  slight  abbreviations. 

AUTHENTIC  HISTORY  OF  THE  HORRIBLE   SLAUGHTER  OF 
ONE  HUNDRED  AND  TWENTY-FIVE  EMIGRANTS. 

One  cannot  gain  an  intelligent  idea  of  any  great 
event  without  knowing  the  causes  by  which  it  was 
produced.  Waterloo  could  never  be  understood  if 
only  the  incidents  of  the  battle  were  narrated. 


272         THE  MOEMON  PROBLEM — APPENDIX. 

The  causes  which  led  to  the  Mountain  Meadows 
massacre  are  interwoven  with  the  fundamental  prin- 
ciples of  the  strange  religion  of  the  Mormons.  Place 
yourself  in  sympathy  with  these  principles,  and  you 
can  obtain  a  faint  conception  of  the  motives  which 
actuated  those  whose  hands  bear  the  dreadful  stain. 
Plunder,  lust,  and  personal  animosity  would  never 
have  prompted  men  to  commit  such  a  cruel,  merciless 
slaughter,  had  not  the  teachings  of  a  fanatical  relig- 
ious belief  sanctioned  the  crime. 

The  good  precepts  of  the  Mormon  faith  render 
the  people  generous,  kind,  hospitable.  The  black 
precepts  are  all  embodied  in  this  one  fiendish  act. 

AT   THE   OUTSET 

let  me  state  that  I  have  no  desire  to  make  history. 
My  duty  is  not  to  create  events,  but  to  record  them. 
Where  authorities  cannot  be  cited — where  I  have  not 
the  names  of  authentic  men  to  corroborate  state- 
ments— I  shall  always  mention  the  fact.  Some  of  the 
incidents  are  probably  fictitious ;  of  such  I  shall  state 
that  they  are  only  rumors :  yet  I  shall  record  no  ru- 
mors which  are  not  believed  by  those  who  ought  to 
know  the  truth. 

Seventeen  years  of  mysterious  darkness  overshad- 


THE  MOUNTAIN  MEADOWS  MASSACRE.        273 

ows  the  crime,  and  where  the  truth  cannot  be  sep- 
arated from  the  falsehoods,  both  will  be  given,  and 
time  and  the  courts  of  justice  will  distinguish  be- 
tween them.  I  have  received  the  following  "  causes  " 
f rom  the  lips  of  Mormons.  From  the  "  first  presi- 
dency "  down  to  the  humblest  farmer,  I  have  dili- 
gently sought  out  reasons.  While  they  all  attempt 
to  soften  the  wiry  edge  of-  public  opinion  by  men- 
tioning the  provocations  which  brought  on  the  deed, 
I  must  bear  witness  that 

THE   MORMONS    REPUDIATE   THE  CRIME. 

From  no  one  have  I  obtained  a  single  word  of 
approval,  or  aught  that  could  be  construed  into  a 
sanction,  of  the  massacre.  For  several  weeks  I  have 
been  mingling  with  all  the  various  ranks  and  classes, 
and,  in  justice  to  myself,  I  must  emphatically  deny 
that  this- great  crime  ought  to  rest  upon  the  shoulders 
of  the  people.  No  denunciation  can  be  too  severe 
for  those  who  planned  and  urged  on  the  crime;  but 
do  not  infer  that  all  this  people  are  guilty. 

The  revelations  of  Joseph  Smith  made  the  Mor- 
mons the  one  chosen  people  of  God.  " Gentiles" 
and  "Babylonians^"  are  terms  which  indicate  that 

outsiders  have  no  rights  which  ought  to  be  respected. 

J« 


THE  MOKMON  PKOBLEM — APPENDIX. 

As  the  Israelites,  the  ancient  people  of  God,  dealt 
with  the  Egyptians,  the  Philistines,  or  the  tribes  that 
opposed  them,  so,  if  necessary,  might  the  Mormons 
deal  with  "  outs."  This  "  cause  "  had  much  to  do 
with  the  massacre.  A  prayerful  assemblage  were 
"  counseled  "  to  the  deed,  and  prayerful  men  led  on 
the  slaughter.  From  John  D.  Lee's  conversation  I 
have  no  doubt  the  story  is  true  which  says  "  he  waved 
his  sword  above  his  head  after  the  massacre,  and 
shouted :  '  This  day  has  the  name  of  Israel's  God 
been  glorified ! ' ' 

AVENGING   A    PROPHET'S    BLOOD. 

Joseph  Smith  is  regarded  by  the  Mormons  as  the 
Saviour  is  by  other  Christian  denominations.  The 
Mormons  believe  in  Jesus  Christ,  but  not  more  firmly 
than  in  this  latter  day  prophet.  Both  suffered  mar- 
tyrdom at  the  hands  of  infuriated  mobs.  The  mur- 
derers of  Joseph  Smith  are  regarded  with  the  same 
intense  hatred  that  would  attach  to  those  of  our 
Saviour,  had  he  been  crucified  in  this  age  and  day. 
One  part  of  the  great  emigrant-train  came  from  the 
portion  of  Missouri  from  which  the  Mormons  had 
been  driven,  and  at  least  one  person  claimed  to  have 
been  at  Illinois  when  the  prophet  was  killed.  It  is 


THE  MOUNTAIN  MEADOWS  MASSACRE.       275 

currently  believed  that  one  of  the  emigrants  swung  a 
pistol  above  his  head,  and  swore  that  it  helped  kill 
"  Joe  Smith,"  and  was  then  loaded  for  "  Old  Brig- 
ham."  I  have  asked  Mormons  whether  their  religion 
would  exonerate  the  man  who  should  kill  the  des- 
perado that  boasted  of  murdering  the  prophet,  and 
they  bluntly  answered  "  Yes." 

AN  APOSTLE'S  MURDERERS. 

A  well-known  tenet  of  the  Mormon  faith  is,  that 
husbands  may  forsake  wives,  and  wives  may  desert 
husbands,  for  religon's  sake.  To  gain  admission 
into  the  one  true  Church  is  worth  infinitely  more 
than  family  ties.  At  Cedar  City  a  gray-haired  man 
was  pointed  out  to  me,  with  the  boastful  assertion : 
"  There  is  a  man  who  left  a  wife  and  four  children  in 
England,  that  he  might  join  the  Mormons  in  Utah." 
The  results  of  this  accursed  doctrine  are  prominently 
connected  with  the  bloody  events  of  the  massacre. 

Parley  P.  Pratt  was  a  bright  and  shining  light 
among  the  early  Mormons.  He  was  one  of  the 
"  Twelve  Apostles,"  and  his  influence  was  power- 
ful and  wide  spread.  He  practiced  the  doctrine  he 
preached,  and  one  of  his  wives,  Eleanor  M'Lean,  was 
the  wife  of  an  Arkansas  man.  Deserting  her  hus- 


276         THE  MORMON  PROBLEM — APPENDIX. 

hand  and  children,  she  eloped  to  Utah  with  Apostle 
Pratt.  Pining  for  her  children,  she  induced  Parley 
P.  Pratt  to  return  to  Arkansas  to  obtain  them. 

Yet  the  Mormons  see  nothing  criminal  in  Parley 
P.  Pratt' s  action,  and  follow,  with  dire  vengeance, 
the  friends  of  M'Lean.  Pratt  was  a  martyr.  His 
autobiography  is  selling  rapidly  through  Utah  at 
present.  The  wife,  Eleanor  Pratt,  died  three  weeks 
ago  in  Salt  Lake  City,  and  a  young  man,  who  was 
her  son  and  M'Lean's,  followed  with  the  mourners. 
The  emigrant  train  contained  several  persons  who 
came  from  M'Lean's  neighborhood.  At  least  one  man 
was  believed  to  have  been  interested  in  the  killing  of 
Apostle  Parley  P.  Pratt.  You  see  the  connection. 

The  very  groundwork  of  the  Mormon  theocracy 
rests  upon  unbounded  reverence  for  President 
Young,  their  prophet,  seer,  and  revelator.  It  is 
charged  that  the  emigrants  wove  his  name  into  vul- 
gar songs,  which  were  chanted  through  the  streets. 

PROFANITY — POISONING    SPRINGS — CHICKEN-STEALING. 

There  is,  or  was,  a  Territorial  law  prohibiting 
profanity.  Some  of  the  emigrants  were  said  to  be 
terribly  profane,  and  upon  entering  a  town  invaria- 
bly inquired  :  "  Where  is  your  d — d  old  bishop,  or 


THE  MOUNTAIN  MEADOWS  MASSACRE.        277 

president?"  Their  profanity  at  last  caused  the  au- 
thorities to  attempt  to  arrest  them  at  Cedar  City. 
Resistance  was  made,  and  the  authorities  were  com- 
pelled to  abandon  the  attempt. 

Again,  it  is  told  that  a  teamster,  in  passing  through 
the  streets  of  Cedar,  brought  his  heavy  whiplash 
down  among  Widow  Evans's  chickens  and  killed  two. 
Lee  says,  that  while  camped  two  miles  beyond  the 
town  they  tore  down  and  burned  fifteen  rods  of  fence, 
and  turned  their  stock  upon  the  standing  grain. 

It  is  rumored  that  at  Corn  Creek  they  poisoned  a 
beef,  or  a  spring,  or  a  running  stream,  and  the  In- 
dians suffered  from  the  effects.  One  Indian  is  said 
to  have  died,  and  the  rest  were  terribly  incensed 
against  the  emigrants.  A  bishop  informs  me  that 
Indian  runners  were  sent  all  over  Southern  Utah  to 
arouse  the  tribes  to  vengeance. 

THE   GREAT   CAUSE, 

however,  was,  that  Albert  Sidney  Johnson's  army 
was  entering  Utah,  and  that  Mormons  were  marshal- 
ing to  oppose  him  with  force  and  arms.  The  United 
States  was  considered  as  an  enemy,  and  its  subjects 
were  treated  as  foes.  Practically,  the  Territory  was 
under  martial  law,  and  the  Nauvoo  Legion  drilled 


278          THE  MORMON  PROBLEM — APPENDIX. 

regularly  each  week.  Here  was  the  richest  and  most 
powerful  company  that  ever  traveled  the  Southern 
route  to  California.  Their  wagons,  teams,  and  loose 
stock,  alone,  amounted  to  over  $300,000,  and  they 
had  the  costliest  apparel  and  jewelry. 

The  wildest  excitement  prevailed,  and  murders 
were  frequent.  Driven  from  place  to  place  in  the 
East,  the  Mormons  resolved  to  tight  for  Utah. 

BLOOD    ATONEMENT 

is  said  to  have  had  its  share  in  urging  on  the  deed. 
Certain  disaffected  Mormons  joined  the  train  to  go  to 
California.  When  their  bodies  were  found  after  the 
massacre  it  is  said  they  were  clothed  in  their  endow- 
ment shirts.  From  these  causes,  gleaned  from  the 
sayings  of  Mormons,  a  little  idea  may  be  gained  of 
the  reasons  which  actuated  the  murderers. 

The  emigrants  were  charged  with  having  their 
hands  crimsoned  with  the  blood  of  Joseph  Smith  and 
Parley  P.  Pratt;  they  were  said  to  be  quarrelsome, 
abusive,  profane,  chicken-thieves ;  they  threatened 
war,  and  poisoned  springs  ;  and  they  grossly  insulted 
leading  Mormons,  and  harbored  apostates. 

I  give  all  the  reasons  I  ever  heard  assigned,  be- 
cause, when  the  provocation  is  all  summed  up,  there 


THE  MOUNTAIN  MEADOWS  MASSACRE.        279 

is  not  sufficient  cause  to  justify  the  dashing  out  of  a 
single  babe's  brains. 

THE   OTHER  SIDE. 

In  rebuttal,  abundant  proof  can  be  furnished  to 
show  that  the  company  was  orderly,  highly  respect- 
able, and  composed  principally  of  quiet,  Sabbath- 
loving,  Christian  people.  They  held  religious  serv- 
ices each  Sunday,  and  reverenced  the  teachings  of 
God's  holy  word.  Eli  B.  Kelsey  traveled  with 
them  from  Fort  Bridger  to  Salt  Lake  City,  and  he 
spoke  of  them  in  the  highest  terms.  Jacob  JIamlin, 
an  honest  old  Indian  interpreter,  who  has  four  wives, 
twenty  children,  and  eighteen  grandchildren,  said  to 
me  of  this  train :  "  They  seemed  like  real  old- 
fashioned  farmers."  A  resident  of  Parowan  told  me 
he  had  visited  them  often,  and  became  well  acquainted 
with  them,  and  he  had  never  seen  a  company  of  bet- 
ter people. 

ENTERING    SALT    LAKE, 

they  found,  to  their  great  surprise,  that  nothing  could 
be  procured  of  the  Mormons  for  love  or  money. 
Their  cash,  their  cattle,  their  immense  wealth,  could 
not  purchase  provisions  enough  to  keep  them  from 
starving.  Trains  were  always  accustomed  to  obtain  a 
fresh  outfit  at  Salt  Lake  prior  to  crossing  the  deserts 


280         THE  MORMON  PROBLEM — APPENDIX. 

intervening  between  Utah  and  California.  Brigham 
Young  may  not  have  been  guilty  of  the  after  events, 
but,  beyond  the  perad venture  of  a  doubt,  he  is  re- 
sponsible for  whatever  suffering  may  have  been  en- 
dured because  of  an  insufficiency  of  food.  He  was 
Governor  of  Utah,  one  of  the  Territories  of  the 
United  States,  and  certainly  he  ought  to  have  per- 
mitted citizens  of  the  Union  to  purchase  necessary 
provisions  while  passing  peaceably  through  his  con- 
tines.  As  it  was,  they  would  have  died  of  starvation 
had  they  not  been  massacred,  though  there  was  an 
unusually  abundant  harvest  that  year.  As  a  climax 
to  this  inhospitable  reception  they  were  peremptorily 
ordered  to  break  camp  and  move  away  from  Salt 
Lake  City. 

THE    SOUTHERN   ROUTE 

to  California  was  the  only  one  that  could  be  traveled 
at  that  season,  as  the  Sierras  would  be  covered  with 
impassable  snow-barriers.  Slowly  they  passed  down 
through  the  villages  .that  blossomed  at  the  foot  of 
the  Wasatch  range,  expecting  to  reach  Los  Angeles 
by  the  San  Bernardino  route.  The  corn  had  ripened, 
and  the  wheat  had  been  harvested.  Every  granary 
was  filled  to  bursting,  and  yet  money  could  not  pur- 
chase food.  At  American  Fork,  Battle  Creek,  Provo, 


THE  MOUNTAIN  MEADOWS  MASSACRE.       281 

Springville,  Spanish  Fork,  Payson,  Nephi,  and  Fill- 
more,  they  received  the  same  harsh  refusal  to  their 
requests  for  trading  or  buying.  They  were  ordered 
away  from  at  least  two  places  where  they  were  halt- 
ing to  rest  and  refresh  their  weary  cattle.  All  emi- 
grants who  have  traveled  through  Utah  to  California 
remember  liow  friendly  and  hospitable  the  Mormons 
usually  were  to  passing  trains.  The  unusual  policy 
pursued  toward  these  people  leads  to  the  inevitable 
conclusion  that  some  very  important  order  had  been 
issued  from  head-quarters.  Sure  enough  we  find  that 

THE   AVENGER 

had  preceded  them  in  the  person  of  George  A.  Smith, 
now  Brigham's  first  counselor,  and  the  second  man 
in  the  theocracy.  Riding  swiftly,  his  fleet  horse  far 
outstripped  the  slow-moving  emigrant-train.  At  ev- 
ery settlement  he  preached  to  the  Mormons,  and  gave 
strict  orders  to  sell  no  food  or  grain  to  emigrants, 
under  pain  of  excommunication.  To  the  earnest, 
sincere  Mormon,  death  is  preferable  to  being  "  cut 
off"  from  the  privileges  of  his  religion.  At  least 
three  men  have  told  me  that  George  A.  Smith  gave 
these  orders.  The  enormity  of  the  crime  is  apparent 
when  we  remember  that  certain  death  awaited  these 


282         THE  MORMON  PROBLEM — APPENDIX. 

poor  emigrants  in  the  shape  of  starvation.  Even 
the  Mormon  side  of  the  story  differs  but  little.  I 
received  it  from  a  zealous  defender  of  the  Mormon 
religion,  and  give  it  in  the  very  words  of  the  honest 
old  man.  He  enjoys  the  highest  confidence  of  Brig- 
ham  Young,  and  gives  me  full  permission  to  use  his 
name. 

AT   CORN   CREEK 

George  A.  Smith  and  his  companion  met  the  emi- 
grants, and  camped  side  by  side  with  them.  Only  a 
little  stream  intervened  between  the  train  and  the 
camp-fire  of  the  man  who  carried  the  fatal  instruc- 
tions. The  emigrants  even  solicited  advice  from 
Smith  as  to  where  they  could  find  a  suitable  spot  to 
encamp  and  recruit  their  teams  previous  to  crossing 
the  desert.  He  and  his  companion  referred  them  to 
Cane  Spring,  the  identical  place  where  they  were 
attacked ! 

The  Indians  at  Corn  Creek  furnished  them  with 
thirty  bushels  of  corn  !  Prior  to  this  no  aid  or  kind- 
ness had  been  received  from  any  quarter,  save  when 
some  Mormon,  braver  than  his  fellows,  would 
clandestinely  steal  into  camp  at  dead  of  night,  bear- 
ing whatever  he  could  in  his  arms.  The  Indians 
befriended  them  !  That,  too,  at  the  very  spot,  Corn 


THE  MOUNTAIN  MEADOWS  MASSACRE.        283 

Creek,  where  the  emigrants  are  said  to  have  been 
poisoned  by  the  Indians  ! 

ABOUT   THAT   POISONING. 

Lee  says  they  poisoned  a  spring,  and  that  from 
drinking  its  waters,  or  from  some  other  cause,  an  ox 
became  poisoned  and  died.  The  flesh  of  this  ox  was 
given  to  the  Indians,  and  one  or  two  of  them  died. 
The  Widow  Tomlinson,  just  this  side,  also  had  an 
ox  poisoned,  and,  in  attempting  to  save  the  hide 
and  tallow,  the  poison  entered  her  system  and  she 
lost  her  life.  Her  son  came  very  near  dying  also. 

The  story  is  doubted  by  even  the  Mormons.  Re- 
lating, or  rather  reading  it  from  my  note-book  to  the 
honest  old  man  who  camped  beside  the  emigrants, 
and  who  ought  certainly  to  have  known  the  truth,  he 
said  :  u  Don't  say  that  I  told  you  that  I  think  it  is 
true,  but  I  don't  know.  And,"  continued  he,  "  if 
you  publish  that  story,  folks  will  disbelieve  all  you 
write." 

The  United  States  officials,  with  Deputy  United 
States  Marshal  Rogers  and  a  competent  military 
surgeon  at  the  head-quarters,  gave  the  most  thorough 
examination  to  the  spring  alleged  to  have  been  poi- 
soned, and  this  is  their  report :  "  It  sends  out  a 


284         THE  MORMON  PROBLEM — APPENDIX. 

stream  as  large  as  a  man's  body,  and  a  barrel  of 
arsenic  would  not  poison  it." 

ON    SHOET   ALLOWANCE. 

At  Beaver  the  emigrants  met  witli  the  same  cold 
treatment.  They  were  actually  compelled  to  place 
themselves  on  short  allowance,  although  traveling 
through  a  land  flowing  with  milk  and  honey.  Paro- 
wan is  a  walled  town.  The  train  was  refused 
permission  to  even  enter  its  streets,  and  was  forced 
to  leave  the  road  and  pass  around  the  town.  The 
only  theory  ever  advanced  for  this  strange  proceed- 
ing is,  that  fatal  preparations  had  already  been  made 
inside  the  walls  of  Parowan.  Some  say  that  the 
militia  were  even  then  assembled  under  Colonel 
William  H.  Dame. 

PREPARING   FOR   THE   MASSACRE. 

From  the  sworn  affidavits  of  those  who  partici- 
pated in  the  slaughter,  it  is  conclusively  established 
that  Brigadier- General  George  A.  Smith,  Colonel 
William  H.  Dame,  Lieutenant-Colonel  I.  C.  Haight, 
and  Major  John  D.  Lee  held  a  council  of  war  at 
Parowan.  They  determined  upon  the  place,  the 
manner,  and  all  the  minor  details  of  the  massacre. 


THE  MOUNTAIN  MEADOWS  MASSACRE.        285 

Where  the  California  road  crosses  the  Santa  Clara 
canyon  the  crime  was  to  be  perpetrated.  Shut  in 
between  the  perpendicular  walls  of  rock,  the  very 
wagons  were  to  be  piled  up  as  a  blockade  to  prevent 
the  escape  of  a  single  soul.  To  make  doubly  sure, 
however,  Ira  Hatch  was  sent,  with  others,  beyond 
the  canyon  to  the  "  Muddy,"  to  cut  off  stragglers. 
Guards  were  also  placed  at  Buckhorn  Springs,  nearly 
seventy  miles  this  side  of  the  Meadows,  and  at  all  the 
springs  and  watering-places  near  Cedar  City  and 
Parowan.  These  guards  would  be  certain  to  dis- 
cover and  shoot  down  any  fugitives  who  might  have 
escaped. 

THE    UTAH    MILITIA 

received  a  positive  military  order  to  report  for  duty. 
The  very  language  of  this  written  order  was,  that 
they  must  come  "  armed  and  equipped  as  the  law 
directs,  and  prepared  for  field  operations."  A 
highly  respectable  gentleman  tells  me  that  he  hap- 
pened to  be  lying  on  one  side  of  a  high  adobe  wall 
while  the  order  was  being  read  to  two  men  on  the 
other  side.  He  did  not  dare  leave  for  fear  of  being 
discovered,  and  was  forced  to  listen  to  the  conversa- 
tion. They  were  directed  to  be  in  readiness  within 
one  hour,  with  forty  rounds  of  ammunition.  These 


286          THE  MOKMON  PKOBLEIL — APPENDIX. 

two  men  knew  the  import  of  their  instructions,  and 
sat  down  and  cried  like  children  at  the  thought  of 
the  horrible  deed  they  were  compelled  to  perform. 
They  both  said  they  would  rather  leave  the  Territory 
and  desert  homes  and  families  than  to  engage  in  the 
bloody  work.  To  refuse  to  comply  with  the  order, 
however,  was  certain  death,  for  the  guards  stationed 
at  the  watering-places  rendered  escape  impossible. 

IS    BKIGHAM    YOUNG   IMPLICATED? 

Thousands  of  people  are  asking  this  question. 
There  is  no  evidence  in  existence,  so  far  as  is  known, 
to  criminate  him  as  being  accessory  before  the  fact, 
unless  it  is  connected  with  his  military  position.  It 
was  claimed,  all  the  way  through,  that  orders  had 
come  from  head -quarters.  He  was  commarider-in- 
chief  of  the  Utah  militia,  and  it  hardly  seems  possible 
to  suppose  that  the  militia  would  be  detailed  to  do 
such  sanguinary  work  without  some  sanction  from 
Salt  Lake  City. 

BEADY    FOE   THE    SLAUGHTER. 

From  Cedar  City  the  emigrants  proceeded  south- 
west to  the  Meadows,  a  distance  of  about  forty  miles. 
Camping  at  the  Meadows,  they  were  quietly  resting 


THE  MOUNTAIN  MEADOWS  MASSACRE.        287 

their  cattle  and  gaining  strength  to  cross  the  desert. 
Suddenly,  unexpectedly,  at  day-break  on  Monday 
morning,  September  10,  1857,  they  were  attacked  by 
Indians. 

At  the  very  first  fire  seven  were  killed  and  fifteen 
wounded.  Thoughtless  of  danger,  totally  unprepared, 
and,  in  fact,  while  most  of  them  were  yet  asleep,  they 
fell  hopelessly  before  the  bullets  of  their  unseen  foes. 
Had  they  possessed  less  bravery,  less  determination, 
the  entire  party  would  have  been  massacred  on  the 
spot.  With  a  promptness  unparalleled  in  all  the  his- 
tory of  Indian  warfare,  these  emigrants  wheeled  their 
wagons  into  an  oblong  corral,  and,  with  shovels  and 
picks,  threw  up  the  earth  from  the  center  of  the  cor- 
ral against  the  wagon  wheels.  In  an  incredibly  short 
space  of  time  they  had  an  excellent  barricade.  An 
eye-witness  says  that  it  was  done  with  such  remark- 
able celerity  that  the  plans  of  the  painted  assassins 
were  completely  frustrated. 

THE   ORIGINAL   PLAN 

had  been,  as  before  stated,  to  attack  them  at  Santa 
Clara  canyon,  but  the  Indians  became  too  impatient. 
These  "  battle-axes  of  the  Lord  "  had  responded  to 
the  call  of  the  Indian  agent,  John  D.  Lee,  and  the 


288         THE  MOEMON  PROBLEM— APPENDIX. 

liberal  promises  they  had  received  caused  the  prema- 
ture attack.  The  large  herds  and  the  rich  spoils — the 
blankets,  clothing,  and  trinkets — the  guns,  pistols,  and 
ammunition — a  portion  of  all  of  which  was  to  be  theirs, 
induced  them  to  make  the  attack  at  Cane  Spring. 
They  intended  to  kill  as  many  as  possible  at  the  iirst 
fire,  and  then  charge  upon  the  remainder.  The 
charge  never  was  made.  There  were  crack  marks- 
men in  the  train,  and  in  a  few  moments  there  were 

THREE    WOUNDED   INDIANS. 

The  redskins  had  crept  up  close  to  the  train,  and 
lay  concealed  along  the  banks  of  the  creek,  in  the 
little  hollows,  and  behind  the  low  sage-brush.  They 
never  dreamed  of  a  repulse.  Disconcerted  by  the 
prompt,  decisive  action  of  the  emigrants,  they  incau- 
tiously exposed  their  bodies.  One  account  says  they 
actually  charged  upon  the  guard ;  but,  at  all  events, 
one  was  slightly  wounded  in  the  shoulder  and  two 
were  shot  in  the  left  thigh.  There  was  not  an  inch 
difference  in  the  location  of  the  wounds  of  the  last 
two.  The  bones  were  crushed  to  splinters,  and  both 
Indians  died.  Prior  to  their  death  they  were  con- 
veyed to  the  camp  near  Cedar,  and  Bishop  Higbee 
anointed  their  wounds  with  consecrated  oil !  It  may 


THE  MOUNTAIN  MEADOWS  MASSACRE.        289 

not  be  generally  known  that  this  oil  is  blessed  and  set 
apart  for  the  healing  of  the  sick.  Instead  of  calling 
a  physician,  many  of  the  Mormons,  to  this  day,  no 
matter  what  may  be  the  nature  of  the  disease,  pour  on 
this  oil,  and  attempt  to  effect  a  cure  by  prayer  and 

THE   LAYING  ON   OF   HANDS. 

It  is  true  biblical  doctrine,  and  it  is  claimed  that 
wondrous  cures  are  effected  througli  the  instrumen- 
tality of  faith.  Bishop  Higbee  went  out  to  the  camp 
after  these  murderers  had  been  brought  from  the 
Meadows,  anointed  the  wounded  limbs,  went  through 
all  the  process  of  "  laying  on  of  hands,"  and  fervently 
prayed  that  the  Lord  Jesus  would  heal  them.  My 
informant  says :  "  I  stood  by  and  watched  his  mo- 
tions and  listened  to  his  prayers." 

Leaving  the  emigrants  safely  intrenched  behind 
their  hastily-improvised  fortifications,  let  us  return  to 
President  Haight  at  Cedar.  He  had  preached  from 
the  pulpit  before  the  train  arrived  in  his  town  that 
the  people  were  not  to  trade  with  the  Gentiles.  One 
man  heard  that  a  young  gentleman  by  the  name  of 
William  A.  Aden  was  with  the  train.  Aden's  father 
had  once,  in  Tennessee,  saved  the  life  of  this  Mormon, 

and,  out  of  gratitude,  he  befriended  the  young  man 
19 


290        THE  MOKMON  PROBLEM — APPENDIX. 

in  some  way.  Soon  afterward  a  party  of  Mormons 
came  up  to  the  gate  of  the  disobedient  brother  and 
struck  him  over  the  head  with  a  club.  His  skull  was 
cracked,  and,  although  he  is  still  living,  his  mind  is 
seriously  impaired.  The  murderer  of  young  Aden 
boasts  that  the  latter  was 

HIS   FIES'l    VICTIM. 

Aden  and  a  companion  were  returning  to  the  settle- 
ments, probably  to  attempt  to  obtain  assistance  or 
food.  At  all  events,  they  met  Bill  Stewart  and  a 
companion  at  Pine  Creek,  seven  miles  this  side  of  the 
Meadows.  Stewart  had  a  revolver,  and  his  compan- 
ion, a  boy,  had  a  shot-gun.  The  former  said  he 
would  shoot  one,  and  told  the  boy  he  must  kill  the 
other.  As  good  as  his  word,  Stewart  sent  a  bullet 
crashing  through  Aden's  brain,  while  the  horse  of  his 
unsuspecting  victim  was  quietly  drinking  at  a  little 
creek.  The  boy's  courage  failed,  and  the  other  emi- 
grant escaped  to  the  train. 

A   HARDENED   VILLAIN. 

Years  after  the  murder,  Stewart  and  a  Mormon 
friend  were  passing  the  spot,  and  the  former  related 
the  circumstance.  The  friend  asked  what  had  been 
done  with  the  body,  and  Stewart  pointed  to  a  clump 


THE  MOUNTAIN  MEADOWS  MASSACRE.         291 

of  bushes  as  the  place  where  it  had  been  concealed. 
"  Is  it  there  now  ? "  asked  the  traveler.  "  I  don't 
know,"  coolly  responded  Stewart;  "let's  go  and 
see!"  Accordingly  they  went,  and  the  horrified 
friend  tells  me  that  to  this  day  he  shudders  to  think 
how  Stewart  went  to  the  spot  and  brutally  kicked 
about  the  poor  bleached  bones,  and  examined  the 
fragments  of  clothing  and  scattered  -locks  of  hair. 

Aden's  gray-haired  father  advertised  for  his  lost 
son,  and  offered  a  reward  of  one  thousand  dollars 
for  information  of  his  whereabouts.  Surely  it  was 
a  kind  Providence  that  kept  him  in  ignorance  of 
the  fact  that  the  boy's  body  was  food  for  wolves, 
and  that  for  years  the  whitened  bones  bleached 
unburied.  He  has  since  learned  that  his  son  was 
with  the  emigrants,  but  probably  he  never  knew 
that  his  boy  was  the  first  victim,  and  that  he  was 
killed  by  a  Mormon  who  still  lives  in  Cedar  City.  I 
would  not  dare  publish  this  horrible  tale,  did  I  not 
have  it  direct  and  positive  from  the  lips  of  highly- 
respectable  gentlemen  whose  oaths  are  ready  to  back 
their  assertions. 

AN  INDIAN  RUNNER 

came  into  Cedar  the  first  night,  and  reported  tin 
unsuccessful  assault.  The  Mormons  immediately 


292        THE  MORMON  PROBLEM — APPENDIX. 

started  to  the  Meadows  to  assist.  Haiglit  told  a 
certain  man  that  orders  had  come  from  head-quarters 
to  massacre  every  one  of  them.  The  man's  boy, 
now  grown  to  middle  age,  overheard  the  remark, 
and  is  my  authority.  The  same  person  says  he  saw 
eight  or  ten  men  start  out  about  nine  o'clock  that 
night.  They  were  armed  with  shot-guns,  Kentucky 
rifles,  flint-locks,  and  every  imaginable  fire-arm,  and 
went  under  military  orders.  Major  John  D.  Lee 
had  command  of  the  forces  which  started  from  Cedar 
City,  and,  finding  these  inadequate,  sent  back  to 
Cedar  and  Washington  for  re-enforcements. 

Sworn  affidavits  tell  us  that  when  the  auxiliaries 
arrived,  the  entire  command  was  assembled  about 
half  a  mile  from  the  intrench ments  of  the  fated 
emigrants,  and  were  there  coolly  informed  that 
the  whole  company  was  to  be  killed,  and  only  the 
little  children  who  were  too  young  to  remember  any 
thing,  were  to  be  spared.  (See  Fanny  Stenhouse's 
"Tell  It  All,"  p.  329.) 

But  the  order  could  not  be  immediately  carried  out 
because  of  the 

DETERMINED   RESISTANCE 

of  the  emigrants.  The  Meadows  are  a  mile  and  a 
half  long  and  a  mile  wide,  but  the  mountains  which 


THE  MOUNTAIN  MEADOWS  MASSACRE.         293 

form  the  high  rim  of  the  little  basin  converge  at  the 
lower  end  and  form  a  wild,  rugged  canyon.  Just  at 
the  mouth  of  this  canyon  is  Cane  Spring.  Some  con- 
fusion has  arisen  among  authorities  by  confounding 
this  spring  with  another  "  Cane  "  Spring,  two  and  a 
half  miles  south.  There  was  but  one  attack,  and  that 
was  made  at  the  Meadow  Spring,  then  called  "  Cane," 
because  of  the  peculiar  rush,  resembling  canebrake, 
which  grew  near  its  waters.  My  authority  is  the 
man  who  was  the  owner  of  the  ground  then  and  now. 
A  mound  some  two  hundred  feet  long  by  one 
hundred  wide  rose  from  the  Meadows  about  thirty 
rods  above  the  spring,  and  completely  shut  out  the 
view.  Low  hills  with  deep  ravines  came  down  on 
either  side,  and  completely  hemmed  in  the  party. 
Bullets  from  every  side  of  the 

DEATH    PEN 

swept  the  inclosure,  and  whistled  through  the  wagon 
covers.  Such  cattle  as  were  inside  the  corral  were 
shot  down,  and  the  herds  outside  were  stampeded. 
Yet  for  seven  or  eight  days  they  bravely  held  out, 
and  seemed  to  be  masters  of  the  situation.  Water 
was  their  great  need.  A  little  babbling  brook  mur- 
mured along  not  forty  feet  away,  and  the  fine,  clear 


294         THE  MORMON  PROBLEM — APPENDIX. 

spring  was  not  more  than  two  rods  off,  but  yet  they 
suffered  indescribably  from  thirst. 

THE   MORMONS    WERE   PAINTED   AND   DISGUISED 

to  appear  like  their  savage  allies.  Not  content  with 
the  superior  advantages  which  nature  had  given  to 
their  position,  they  threw  up  breastworks  of  stone  on 
the  adjacent  hill-sides.  From  behind  these  their  rifles 
could  sweep  the  little  grassy  plain  below  without  a 
single  portion  of  their  body  being  exposed.  Every 
attempt  to  obtain  water,  either  day  or  night,  awak- 
ened a  score  of  deadly  reports  from  .the  arms  of  the 
concealed  foe.  It  was  supposed  at  first  that  none 
but  the  men  were  in  danger.  A  woman,  who  stepped 
outside  the  corral  to  milk  a  cow,  fell  pierced  with 
bullets.  Two  innocent  little  girls  were  sent  down  to 
the  spring.  Hand  in  hand,  tremblingly,  these  dear 
little  rosebuds  walked  toward  the  spring.  Their  ten- 
der little  bodies  were  fairly  riddled  with  bullets. 

THE   OLD   BREASTWORKS 

still  remain  in  places,  and  no  one  can  visit  the  spot 
without  being  surprised  that  the  emigrants  held  out 
so  long.  Behind  the  mounds,  and  just  beyond  the 
low  foothills  and  the  mound,  are  level  flats  concealed 
from  the  emigrants'  view.  Here  the  Mormons  and 


THE  MOUNTAIN  MEADOWS  MASSACRE.         295 

Indians  were  pitching  horseshoes,  and  amusing  them- 
selves in  various  ways.  The  cowards  well  under- 
stood that  cruel,  pitiless  hunger  and  burning  thirst 
were  their  powerful  allies  inside  that  corral.  Wagon- 
loads  of  provisions  were  arriving  from  Cedar  for  the 
besiegers,  and  each  day  lessened  the  scanty  stock  of 
the  emigrants.  Who  can  picture  the  torments  of 
mind  and  body  which  those  poor  people  suffered? 
In  a  bleak,  desolate  country,  hundreds  of  miles  from 
help,  surrounded  by  painted  fiends,  and  dying  of 
thirst  and  starvation,  how  deep  must  have  been  the 
gloom ! 

THREE  SPIES 

had  been  sent  with  the  train  from  Cedar.  Ostensibly 
they  were  apostates  going  to  California,  but  in  reality 
they  were  sent  to  learn  the  strength  of  the  party,  the 
scarcity  of  provisions,  etc.  I  heard  the  names  of 
these  men,  but  did  not  note  them  down  when  my 
informant  gave  them,  and  may  be  mistaken.  I 
think  they  were  Elliot  Wilden  or  Willets,  a  man  by 
the  name  of  Reeves,  and  Bill  Stewart.  They  are 
well  known  in  Southern  Utah  as  "  the  three  boys." 
They  were  unable  to  accomplish  any  thing  after  the 
siege  began,  and  so  escaped  to  the  Indians.  They 
dressed  in  savage  costume,  put  war-paint  on  their 


296         THE  MORMON  PROBLEM — APPENDIX. 

faces,  and  throughout  the  black  days  of  the  horrible 
siege  and  butchery,  they  played  a  bloody  part. 

A    CRY    OF    DISTRESS. 

One  thrillingly  horrible  incident  gives  a  vivid  idea 
of  the  anguish  of  the  emigrants.  It  shows  that  the 
brave,  true  hearts  of  those  Arkansas  men  scorned 
death  and  danger  if  only  a  little  hope  could  be  seen 
of  saving  their  wives  and  babies.  Monday,  Tuesday, 
Wednesday,  and  Thursday  passed.  The  weary  hours 
of  fear  and  suffering  dragged  slowly  by.  The  whiz- 
zing arrows,  the  whistling  bullets,  the  cheers  and 
ribald  laughter  of  the  coarse,  brutal  assassins,  told 
how  blood-thirsty  were  the  besiegers.  Thursday 
night  the  emigrants  drew  up  a  petition,  or  an 
humble 

PRAYER   FOR   AID. 

It  was  addressed  to  any  friend  of  humanity,  and 
stated  the  exact  condition  of  affairs.  It  told  that  on 
the  morning  of  the  10th  the  train  was  attacked  by 
Indians,  and  that  the  siege  had  continued  uninter- 
ruptedly. There  was  reason  to  believe,  it  stated,  that 
white  men  were  with  the  Indians,  as  the  latter  were 
well  supplied  with  powder  and  weapons.  In  case 
the  paper  reached  California,  it  was  hoped  that  assist- 


THE  MOUNTAIN  MEADOWS  MASSACRE.        297 

ance  would  be  sent  to  their  rescue.  Then  followed  a 
list  of  the  emigrants'  names,  each  name  was  followed 
by  the  age,  place  of  nativity,  latest  residence,  posi- 
tion, rank,  and  occupation  of  its  owner.  The  number 
of  clergymen,  physicians,  farmers,  carpenters,  etc., 
was  given.  Among  other  important  particulars,  the 
number  of 

FREEMASONS   AND   ODD-FELLOWS 

• 

was  stated,  with  the  rank,  and  the  name  and  number 
of  the  lodge  of  which  they  were  members.  It  was  a 
forlorn  hope,  this  letter — a  sad  despairing  cry  of  dis- 
tress. It  is  the  only  expression  that  ever  came  from 
within  that  cwral,  but  it  giyes  such  a  thrilling  pict- 
ure of  their  torture  and  mental  anguish  as  nothing 
else  could.  Seventeen  years  have  elapsed  since  that 
signal  of  distress  was  made.  Yet  it  is  not  too  late  to 
answer.  There  is  many  a  strong  heart  in  the  world 
to-day  that  will  feel  its  pulses  thrill  faster  when  it 
hears  that  these  men,  in  their  strong  death  agony, 
appealed  for  aid  to  their  brethren  of  the  mystic  tie. 
The  paper,  also,  contained  an  itemized  list  of  their 
property,  such  as  wagons,  oxen,  horses,  etc. 

"Who  should  attempt  to  break  through  the  line, 
and  bear  this  letter  to  California  ?     It  was  a  desperate 


298         THE  MORMON  PROBLEM — APPENDIX. 

undertaking,  but  it  was  the  last  hope.  Yolunteers 
were  called  for,  and  three  of  the  bravest  men  that 
ever  lived  stepped  forward  and  offered  to  attempt  to 
dash  through  the  enemy,  and  cross  the  wilderness 
and  desert.  Before  they  started,  all  knelt  in  the 
corral,  and  the  white-haired  old  Methodist  pastor 
prayed  fervently  for  their  safety.  In  the  dead  of 
night  they  passed  the  besiegers,  but  Indian  runners 
were  immediately  placed  on  their  track. 

FLEEING   FOR   THEIR   LIVES. 

They  traveled  until  completely  exhausted.  An 
Indian  chief,  named  Jackson,  boasts  of  having  killed 
the  first,  having  found  him  lying  on  his  back  asleep, 
between  the  Clara  and  the  Kio  Virgin.  The  savage 
crept  stealthily  up  to  the  sleeping'  man,  placed  the 
flinty  arrow-point  just  above  the  collar  bone,  drew 
back  the  bow-string,  and  sent  the  shaft  down  into  the 
sleeper's  throat.  Springing  to  his  feet,  he  ran  nearly 
forty  yards  before  he  fell,  faint  and  dying.  There 
is  every  reason  for  supposing  that  he  lived  long 
enough  to  be  tortured.  In  after  years  my  informant 
was  taken  by  Jackson  to  the  remains.  The  skull 
and  larger  bones  were  charred  and  burned,  and  the 
smaller  ones  were  wholly  reduced  to  ashes.  Whether 


THE  MOUNTAIN  MEADOWS  MASSACRE.        299 

tortured  or  not,  his  body  was  burned  by  his  fiendish 
murderers. 

THE    LETTER   WAS    FOUND 

on  a  divide,  near  the  murdered  man.  Jackson  dis- 
covered it,  and  gave  it  to  my  informant,  who  kept  it 
safely  for  months.  Happening  to  show  it  one  day  to 
a  man  who  was  a  leader  in  the  massacre,  he  promptly^ 
destroyed  it.  The  honest  old  Mormon,  however,  is 
perfectly  acquainted  with  the  nature  of  its  contents, 
and  has  no  sympathy  with  the  tragedy  or  its  perpe- 
trators. In  his  simple,  straightforward  style  he  said : 
"  I  believe  that,  if  the  Masons  and  Odd-fellows 
knew  how  many  of  their  brethren  were  in  the  train, 
they  wouldn't  let  the  accursed  murderers  go  unpun- 
ished." He  is  willing  at  the  proper  time  to  testify  to 
the  contents  of  the  letter. 

The  two  other  emigrants  traveled  forty  miles  far- 
ther and  came  to  the  Virgin  Hills.  Here  the  In- 
dians overtook  and  surrounded  them.  The  deadly 
arrows  wounded  one,  and  both  were  captured.  The 
Indians  stripped  them  stark  naked,  and  gave  them  to 
understand  that  they  must 

RUN  FOR  LIFE! 

Both  started,  but  the  one  was  so  badly  wounded  that 
he  could  not  run.     The  other   bounded  away  with 


300          THE  MORMON  PROBLEM — APPENDIX. 

the  swiftness  of  a  deer.  The  fleetest  runners  were 
engaged  in  the  pursuit,  and,  to  use  the  language  of 
my  informer,  "  he  ran  right  away  from  them."  Even 
the  shower  of  arrows  missed  his  flying  body,  save 
one,  which  struck  his  arm,  inflicting  a  severe  wound. 
Meantime,  savages  had  gathered  around  the  fainting 
jrform  of  the  man  who  could  not  run,  and  had  tied 
him  to  a  stake.  Fagots  were  soon  blazing  around 
his  quivering  body,  and  he  died  amid  all  the  excruci- 
ating agony  known  to  savage  torture. 

HUNTED   TO    THE   DEATH. 

The  third  and  last — naked,  wounded,  without 
weapons,  food,  fire,  or  drink,  without  map,  compass, 
or  guide — made  his  way  across  the  desert,  fifty-four 
miles !  The  Yagas  Indians,  another  band  of  Piutes, 
discovered  him  in  such  a  weak,  exhausted  state,  that 
they  pitied  him.  Yes,  these  hostile  savages  pitied 
the  condition  of  the  white  man  wno  was  fleeing  from 
the  cruelty  of  white  men.  They  gave  him  a  pair  of 
pants  and  moccasins,  and  let  him  have  some  musquit 
bread.  The  musquit  is  a  thorny  shrub,  one  species  of 
which  has  a  pod  containing  a  sort  of  bean.  These 
beans  are  ground  by  the  Indians  in  stone  mortars, 
and  from  them  is  made  an  inferior  kind  of  bread. 


THE  MOUNTAIN  MEADOWS  MASSACRE.         301 

He  was  able  to  travel  eighteen  miles  farther  to  what 
is  known  as  Cottonwood.  Here  he  met  two  young 
gentlemen  from  California,  Henry  T.  Young  and 
Can  Young.  They  gave  him  a  horse  and  some 
clothing,  and  bade  him  Godspeed  to  California.  He 
started  off,  but  soon  came  riding  back  and  overtook 
them.  He  was  so  weary  and  feverish,  and  his  arm 
pained  so  dreadfully,  that  he  feared  that  he  could  not 
make  the  trip.  He  wanted  to  return  with  them  to 
Salt  Lake,  and  would  run  the  risk  of  being  known. 
They  had  gone  but  a  little  way  when  they  met  the 
Indians  tracking  him. 

THE   CRUEL    BLOOD-HOUNDS 

seemed  bound  that  not  one  of  the  doomed  emigrants 
should  live  to  tell  the  tale.  Instantly  recognizing 
him,  the  Indians  would  have  fired  at  once,  but  for 
the  efforts  of  the  Young  brothers.  These  gentlemen 
drew  down  their  rifles,  and  kept  the  Indians  at  bay. 
Hardly  had  they  traveled  two  miles  before  they  met 
more  Indians  and  Ira  Hatch,  the  interpreter.  Ira 
told  the  Young  boys  that  they  were  "  all  right,"  but 
that  the  man  must  die.  No  sooner  had  he  said  the 
word  than  the  Indians  discharged  a  shower  of  arrows 
at  the  poor  fellow.  Pierced  by  a  score  of  the  sharp 


302         THE  MOKMON  PKOBLEM — APPENDIX. 

headed  arrows,  lie  fell  from  his  horse.  The  Young 
brothers  had  all  they  could  do  to  preserve  their  own 
lives.  The  last  they  saw  of  the  fugitive,  he  was 
crawling  away  on  his  hands  and  knees,  and  an  old 
Indian  was  stabbing  at  his  throat  with  a  butcher's 
knife.  It  seems  that  one  of  the  savages  put  an  end 
to  the  torture  by  striking  the  man  on  the  head  with  a 
stone,  crushing  his  skull.  Thus  perished  the  forlorn 
hope  of  the  emigrants. 

FALSE   SIGNALS. 

The  besiegers  found  it  impossible  to  take  the  train 
by  storm  or  by  fair  means.  Evidently  the  poor 
victims  had  resolved  to  perish  fighting  rather % than 
deliver  up  their  wives  and  daughters  into  the  hands 
of  brutal  villains.  But  lo !  an  emigrant  train  is  seen 
coming  down  the  meadows  bearing  a  white  flag ! 
Ah,  what  tumultuous  hopes  crowded  the  breasts  of 
that  famishing,  perishing  people.  It  is  said  they 
cried  for  joy,  and  danced  and  embraced  each  other, 
and  gladly  rushed  out  to  meet  their  supposed  friends. 
They  were  armed  friends,  too,  as  soon  turned  out,  for 
they  were  no  less  than  John  D.  Lee  and  the  officers 
of  the  Utah  militia.  How  sweet  it  must  have  been, 
after  those  terrible  days  and  nights,  to  have  seen  the 


THE  MOUNTAIN  MEADOWS  MASSACRE.        303 

STARS  AND  STRIPES, 

and  to  know  that  the  militia  of  a  Territory  of  the 
United  States  was  come  to  their  rescue !  Brigham 
Young,  the  great  governor  of  Utah,  commander-in- 
chief  of  the  military  forces,  was  supposed  to  have  sent 
them  to  deliver  them,  and  how  perfectly  safe  it  was  to 
accept  shelter  under  his  protecting  arm !  The  "  In- 
dians "  were  awed  by  the  very  presence  of  the  Mor- 
mons, and  had  ceased  firing.  Surely  the  painted 
savages  were  perfectly  controlled  by  their  white  su- 
periors! .How  kindly  and  tenderly  these  officers 
talked.  Lee  is  said  to  have  wept  like  a  child  as  he 
sympathized  with  their  sufferings.  How  providential 
it  was  that  such  tender-hearted  Christian  gentlemen 
should  have  learned  of  their  dreadful  situation, 
and  have  come  to  their  aid  !  A  man  so  eloquent !  so 
smooth-tongued  as  was  good  Mr.  Lee !  A  man  who 
was  himself  Indian  Agent,  and  for  whom  the  Indians 
had  the  most  marked  respect !  A  major,  too,  in  the 
militia! 

LAY   DOWN   THEIR   ARMS? 

Certainly  they  would.  If  protection  could  so  easily 
be  guaranteed  by  these  philanthropic  gentlemen  and 
their  regiment,  what  reason  for  letting  their  wives 
and  little  ones  die  of  starvation  ? 


304:         THE  MOKMON  PROBLEM — APPENDIX. 

Lee  was  too  politic  to  make  many  promises  at  first. 
He  must  consult  with  the  "  Indians."  Having  just 
arrived,  he  had  not  an  opportunity  of  learning  their 
terms  or  intentions!  Accordingly  he  went  back  and 
pretended  to  hold  a  council.  Was  there  ever  such 
base  perfidy?  Were  white  men — prayerful,  God- 
fearing white  men — ever  guilty  of  such  unprincipled 
treachery  ?  Well  might  such  a  dastardly  coward  hide 
in  a  chicken-coop  when  the  officers  came  to  arrest 
him  !  Again  he  came,  bearing  once  more  the  white 
flag,  that  pure 

SYMBOL  OF  PEACE  AND  TRUTH. 

An  angel  from  heaven  would  not  have  been  a  more 
blessed  sight  to  those  tired,  anxious,  tearful  eyes. 
They  laid  down  their  trusty  rifles  that  had  been  their 
strong  defense.  Taking  off  their  belts,  they  deliv- 
ered up  their  good  revolvers  and  faithful  bowie- 
knives. 

John  D.  Lee  is  as  smooth  a  talker  as  I  ever  heard. 
While  I  listened  to  him  last  week  in  Beaver  jail,  I 
kept  constantly  thinking  of  how  he  talked  those  emi- 
grants out  of  the  intrenchments  from  which  powder 
and  ball  could  not  dislodge  them.  Only  fifteen  had 
been  killed  in  eight  days.  The  corral  was  a  bulwark 


THE  MOUNTAIN  MEADOWS  MASSACRE.       305 

of  safety,  but  the  honeyed  words  of  a  white  man  won 
their  hearts. 

A    GUARD    OF    SOLDIERS, 

well  armed,  were  drawn  up  to  escort  them  in  safety. 
The  men  inarched  on  first,  then  the  women,  and 
lastly  the  children.  Did  nothing  whisper  to  those 
brave  hearts  the  horrible  fate  in  store  for  them  and 
their  dear  ones?  Was  there  no  pang  of  regret  at 
stepping  out  of  that  strong  fortification  ?  Certainly 
not.  Here  was  the  American  flag,  the  dear  old  flag, 
and,  rallying  beneath  its  folds,  they  felt  that  the 
strong  arms  of  the  Union  enfolded  them. 
And  now, 

GOD   HELP   THEM! 

As  I  write  the  events  of  the  massacre  I  almost 
shriek  with  terror.  It  is  too  terrible  to  believe  or 
talk  about ;  but  seventeen  years  of  silence  and  peace 
is  quite  as  much  as  those  scoundrels  deserve,  and  I 
shall  write  every  incident.  I  shall  write  each  one 
without  divesting  it  of  a  single  horror  that  it  re- 
ceived as  it  came  direct  from  the  lips  of  eye-wit- 
nesses. 

SUDDENLY,  AT  A  GIVEN  SIGNAL, 

the  troops  halted,  and  down  the  line  passed  the  fatal 

order,  "Fire I" 
20 


306        THE  MOKMON  PEOBLEM — APPENDIX. 

It  was  given  by  John  D.  Lee,  and  was  repeated  by 
the  under-officers.  The  poor,  pitiful  emigrants  gave 
one 

AGONIZING    SHRIEK, 

and  fell  bleeding  to  the  earth.  The  Indians  lay  am- 
bushed near  the  spot,  and  joined  in  the  slaughter  when 
they  saw  the  white  men  begin.  Sworn  statements  of 
participators  say  the  militia  fired  volley  after  volley  at 
the  defenseless,  unarmed  men  who  had  intrusted  their 
lives  to  the  militia's  keeping.  It  is  the  most  heart- 
less, cold-blooded  deed  that  ever  disgraced  the  pages 
of  history.  The  cowardly  assassins  could  not  have 
performed  one  single  act  that  would  have  added  to 
the  blackness  of  their  perfidy.  They  feigned  friend- 
ship and  sympathy,  and  induced  these  brave  men  to 
lay  aside  every  weapon,  and  then  shot  them  down 
like  dogs!  The  venerable,  gray-headed  clergyman, 
the  sturdy  farmers,  the  stalwart  young  men  and  the 
beardless  youth,  all  were  cut  down,  one  by  one,  and 
above  their  dead  bodies  waved  the  stars  and  stripes ! 

BUT   THIS   WAS   NOT   ALL. 

The  women  were  not  all  killed  just  yet!  Many 
fell  by  their  husbands  and  fathers  and  brothers ; 
but  others  were  not  permitted  to  die  yet.  It  was  by 
deliberate,  predetermined  forethought  that  the  women 


THE  MOUNTAIN  MEADOWS  MASSACRE.        307 

were  separated  from  their  husbands'  sides  as  they  left 
the  corral.  Men  who  had  proved  themselves  fiends 
had  yet  to  prove  themselves  brutes.  And  they 
did  so ! 

O,  God  !  had  not  the  weary,  terror-stricken  women' 
and  maidens  suffered  enough  to  have  merited  at  least 
a  speedy  death  ?  It  seems  not.  Their  pure  bosoms 
could  not  quiver  'neath  the  plunge  of  the  cold  steel 
blade,  nor  their  white  throats  crimson  before  the 
keen  knife's  edge,  until  they  had  suffered  the  tor- 
ments of  a  thousand  deaths  at  the  hands  of  their 
brutal  captors.  Yet  this  was  done  in  the  latter  half 
of  the  nineteenth  century,  and  the  cruel,  heartless 
beasts  are  living  peacefully  in  the  midst  of  the  Amer- 
ican nation. 

There  were  two  or  three 

SICK  WOMEN, 

who  were  unable  to  walk  out  from  the  corral.  They 
were  driven  up  to  the  scene  of  the  massacre,  shot, 
stripped  of  their  clothing,  and  their  bodies  thrown 
from  the  wagon  with  the  others. 

Some  of  the  younger  men  refused  to  join  in  the 
dreadful  work.  Jim  Pearce  was  shot  by  his  own 
father  for  protecting  a  girl  who  was  crouching  at 


308         THE  MOKMON  PROBLEM — APPENDIX. 

his  feet!  The  bullet  cut  a  deep  gash  in  his  face,  and 
the  furrowed  scar  is  there  to-day. 

Lee  is  said  to  have  shot  a  girl  who  was  clinging  to 
his  son.  A  score  of  heart-rending  rumors  are  afloat 
about  the  deeds  of  that  hour ;  but  there  is  no  proof 
adduced,  and  as  yet,  nothing  can  be  proven.  One 
rumor,  however,  comes  from  a  girl  who  lived  in  Lee's 
own  family  for  years.  She  told  Mr.  Beadle,  the  au- 
thor of  several  valuable  works,  that  one  young 
woman  drew  a  dagger  to  defend  herself  against  John 
D.  Lee,  and  he  killed  her  on  the  spot. 

A   HOREIBLE   STOKY 

is  believed  by  several  people  in  southern  Utah  with 
whom  I  conversed.  I  give  it  for  what  it  is  worth  : 
A  young  mother  saw  her  husband  fall  dead.  He  lay 
with  his  face  upward  and  the  purple  life-blood  crim- 
soned his  pallid  cheeks.  She  sprang  to  his  side  just 
as  a  great  brutal  ruffian  attempted  to  seize  her.  Lay- 
ing her  tiny  babe  on  her  husband's  breast  she  drew  a 
small  dirk-knife,  and  like  a  tigress  at  bay  confronted 
the  vile  wretch.  He  recoiled  in  terror,  but  at  the 
next  instant  a  man  stepped  up  behind  the  brave 
woman  and  drove  a  knife  through  her  body.  With- 
out a  struggle  she  fell  dead  across  her  husband's  feet. 


THE  MOUNTAIN  MEADOWS  MASSACRE.       309 

Picking  up  the  dirk  she  had  dropped,  the  fiend  de- 
liberately pinned  the  little  babe's  body  to  its  father's, 
and  laughed  to  watch  its  convulsive  death  struggles. 

There,  it  is  all  over !  The  brawny  muscled  men 
lie  stark  and  cold,  and  their  sweet,  saintly  wives  have 
finally  passed  beyond  the  reach  of  their  tormentors. 

BUT  THE   CHILDREN  I 

The  orders  were  to  kill  all  except  those  who  were 
too  young  to  remember.  Bill  Stewart  and  Joel 
White  were  "  set  apart  "  to  kill  all  the  rest.  My  in- 
formant was  first  told  the  following  by  an  Indian 
who  witnessed  the  transaction,  and  afterward  heard  it 
from  white  men.  The  old  Indian  cried  while  telling 
it.  My  informant  has  testified  to  the  fact  that  the 
statement  is  just  as  he  received  it : 

"  The  little  boys  and  girls  were  too  frightened,  too 
horror-stricken,  to  do  aught  but  fall  at  the  feet  of 
their  butchers  and  beg  for  mercy.  Many  a  sweet 
little  girl  knelt  before  Bill  Stewart,  clasped  his  knees 
with  her  tiny  white  arms,  and  with  tears  and  tender 
pleadings  besought  him  not  to  take  her  life.  Catch- 
ing them  by  the  hair  of  the  head,  he  would  hurl 
them  to  the  ground,  place  his  foot  upon  their  little 
bodies,  and  cut  their  throats  ! " 


310         THE  MORMON  PEOBLEM — APPENDIX. 

THE  AWFUL  SCENE. 

A  man  who  saw  the  field  eight  days  after  the 
massacre  related  to  me  the  following :  Men,  women, 
and  children  were  strewn  here  and  there  over  the 
ground,  or  were  thrown  into  piles.  Some  were 
stabbed,  others  shot,  and  still  others  had  their  throats 
cut.  The  ghastly  wounds  showed  very  plainly,  for 
there  was  not  a  single  rag  of  clothing  left  on  man, 
woman,  or  child,  except  that  a  torn  stocking  clung  to 
the  ankle  of  one  poor  fellow.  The  wolves  and  ravens 
had  lacerated  every  one  of  the  corpses  except  one. 
There  was  one  hundred  and  twenty-seven  in  all,  and 
each  bore  the  marks  of  wolves'  teeth  except  just  one. 
It  was  the  body  of  a  handsome,  well-formed  lady,  with 
beautiful  face,  and  long  flowing  hair.  A  single  bullet 
had  pierced  her  side,  and  stilled  the  beatings  of  her 
heart.  It  seemed  as  if  the  gaunt,  merciless  wolves  had 
deemed  her  too  noble  and  queen-like  for  their  fangs 
to  mar. 

THE   HEAPS   OF   SLAIN. 

Most  of  the  bodies  had  been  thrown  into  three 
piles,  distant  from  each  other  about  two  and  a  half 
rods.  Old  and  young,  matron  and  maid,  white-haired 
men  and  tiny  suckling  babes,  boys  and  girls,  all  were 
thrown  indiscriminately  together. 


THE  MOUNTAIN  MEADOWS  MASSACEE.        311 

One  young  woman  lay  in  the  sage-brush  in  a  hol- 
low or  sag  one  hundred  and  seventy -five  yards  south- 
west from  the  main  body.  She  was  badly  mutilated 
by  the  wild  beasts,  but  it  was  plainly  to  be  seen  that 
her  head  had  -been  half  cut  off ! 

There  were 

NO    SCALP    MARKS. 

Indians  would  certainly  have  taken  scalps  or  burned 
bodies  if  savage  revenge  had  been  the  only  thought. 
The  closest  examination  was  made,  and  not  the 
slightest  traces  of  the  seal  ping-knife  could  be  dis- 
cerned. 

Two  months  afterward,  a  single  Mormon — all 
honor  to  the  man — gathered  up  the  bones  and  placed 
them  in  the  very  hollow  the  emigrants  had  dug  inside 
the  corral.  lie  acted  upon  his  own  responsibility, 
and  went  alone  and  unaided.  He  did  the  very  best 
he  could,  but  the  task  was  horribly  disagreeable,  and 
the  covering  of  earth  which  he  placed  over  the  bodies 
was  necessarily  light.  The  ravenous  wild  beasts  soon 
dug  up  the  bones,  and  they  became  scattered  all  over 
the  ground.  The  kind-hearted  old  Mormon  deserves 
none  the  less  credit,  and  all  good  men  will  pray  God 
to  bless  him  for  doing  what  he  could  for  the  bones  of 
the  murdered  party. 


312         THE  MORMON  PROBLEM — APPENDIX. 

There  lias  been  much  doubt  as  to  the  number  of 
the  slain.  This  man  tells  me  that  just  one  hundred 
and  twenty-seven  skulls  were  found.  This  does  not 
include  Aden's,  nor  the  three  killed  on  the  desert. 
The  total  number  of  the  emigrants  massacred,  so  far 
as  is  known,  is  one  hundred  and  thirty-one.  Two 
children  are  said  to  have  been  murdered  afterward, 
making  one  hundred  and  thirty-three. 

THE    BLOODY    GARMENTS. 

A  boy  who  lived  in  Cedar  City  tells  me  that  every 
night  during  the  battle,  and  for  a  short  time  after  the 
slaughter,  wagons  and  men  were  hurrying  through  the 
streets  at  all  hours  of  the  darkness.  Supplies  and 
re-enforcements  were  constantly  being  sent  out  to  the 
Meadows.  A  distillery  had  been  established  at  Cedar, 
and  its  owner  was  with  the  militia.  It  is  said  he  fur- 
nished large  quantities  of  liquor  to  the  soldiers.  He 
was  exceedingly  enthusiastic  over  the  bloody  work. 

The  garments  of  the  mangled  dead  were  partly 
divided  among  the  Indians,  and  a  part  was  brought 
to  the  Cedar  City  tithing  office.  This  boy — seven- 
teen years  have  made  him  a  man — tells  me  that  he 
slept  in  the  tithing  office,  with  two  other  boys,  on  the 
night  the  gory  spoils  were  brought  into  town. 


THE  MOUNTAIN  MEADOWS  MASSACRE.        313 


A    HAUNTED    TITHING    OFFICE. 

Klingon  Smith  had  come  in  during  the  early  part 
of  the  night,  and  had  lain  down  in  an  adjacent  room 
without  seeing  the  boys.  Early  in  the  evening,  sev- 
eral blood-stained  garments  had  been  thrown  on  the 
floor  and  piled  in  the  cellar.  At  some  time  in  the 
night  the  wagons  arrived  with  the  remainder  of  the 
plundered  goods.  There  were  large  quantities  of  them. 
The  cellar  was  partly  filled,  besides  the  huge  stack  of 
articles  in  the  main  office.  Bedding,  clothing,  pans, 
cooking  utensils,  chains,  yokes,  and,  in  fact,  every 
thing  that  could  be  taken  from  a  body  of  wealthy 
emigrants,  were  stored  in  God's  holy  tithing  office  ! 
This  edifice  is  sacredly  dedicated  to  the  Lord,  and  to 
the  produce  and  gifts  which  are  donated  by  his  holy 
people.  After  such  unhallowed  use  had  been  made 
of  the  building,  it  is  hardly  strange  that  even  un- 
superstitious  people  should  have  deemed  the  house 
haunted.  After  the  murderers  had  gone  away,  sud- 
denly the  room  and  cellar  resounded  with  groans, 
cries,  sobs,  shrieks,  and  death-screams.  This  boy 
says  that  he  and  his  comrades  will  testify  that  such 
was  the  case.  Klingon  Smith  heard  the  ghostly  din, 
and,  after  listening  for  a  time,  he  dashed  wildly  from 


314:        THE  MORMON  PROBLEM — APPENDIX. 

the  house,  out  into  the  night.  He  locked  the  door 
after  him,  and  the  boys  were  prisoners.^  Shut  in  with 
gory  spoils,  they  would  have  gone  stark  mad  ere 
morning  but  that  the  house  was  unfinished,  and  a  por- 
tion of  the  roof  had  not  been  nailed  down.  They  man- 
aged to  clamber  up  and  escape.  "  Do  you  still  believe 
that  supernatural  groans  and  cries  were  heard  that 
night  in  the  tithing  office  ? "  I  asked.  "  No,"  replied 
he.  "  I  don't  believe — I  know  there  were ! " 
Two  months  afterward  the  spoils  were  sold  at 

PUBLIC   AUCTION. 

Bishop  John  M.  Higbee  acted  as  auctioneer.  Prior 
to  the  sale  the  people  had  been  urged  to  give  up  all 
the  articles  that  had  fallen  into  their  hands !  The 
insatiate  greed  of  the  leaders  is  shown  by  the  fact  that 
sermons  were  preached  on  the  enormity  of  the  crime 
of  Ananias  and  Sapphira  in  withholding  a  part  of 
their  goods  from  the  Lord.  Just  what  the  Lord 
wanted  with  Mountain  Meadows  spoils  did  not  appear. 

Every  article  that  could  be  obtained  was  disposed 
of  to  the  highest  bidder — bake-ovens,  frying-pans, 
pails,  saws,  chisels,  augers,  axes,  log-chains,  ox-bows, 
bedding,  etc.  "  I  saw  John  D.  Lee  selling  oxen  at 
private  sale." 


THE  MOUNTAIN  MEADOWS  MASSACRE.       315 

THE  BIDDING  KAN  HIGH. 

The  payment  was  to  be  made  in  wheat  after  har- 
vest, and  the  bidding  was  accordingly  very  high. 
Every  article  brought  nearly  or  quite  its  value.  I 
saw  a  gentleman  who  bought  some  carpenter's  tools. 
They  were  of  excellent  metal,  and  he  has  always 
regretted  that  he  did  not  bid  on  more  of  them ;  be- 
cause, first,  he  needed  the  tools,  and,  secondly,  the 
articles  were  never  paid  for.  A  few  people  did  pay 
cash  down  for  whatever  they  bought,  and  the  money 
went  to  the  tithing  office.  Before  the  harvesting  was 
done,  Gen.  A.  S.  Johnston  had  entered  Utah,  the  wild- 
est excitement  prevailed,  Salt  Lake  City  had  been 
deserted,  people  had  nocked  from  all  parts  of  the  Ter- 
ritory to  the  southern  settlements,  and  payment  for  the 
goods  of  the  murdered  emigrants  was  never  demanded. 

OBLITERATING   TRACKS. 

As  Bishop  Higbee  stood  auctioneering  the  spoils, 
he  was  careful  to  erase  or  destroy  all  traces  of  names. 
It  was  quite  evident  that  the  friends  of  the  deceased 
should  not  be  permitted  to  trace  them  to  Cedar  City. 
Many  fine  books  were  sold,  and  if  the  fiy-leayes  con- 
tained names  or  writing,  they  were  carefully  torn  out 
or  the  writing  erased. 


316         THE  MORMON  PROBLEM — APPENDIX. 

All  accounts  of  the  sale  were  kept  in  a  certain 
book,  which  is  said  to  have  been  burned  the  next 
year.  Probably  nothing  remains  to-day  but  the  tes- 
timony of  witnesses  to  show  how  rich,  how  immense, 
was  the  plundered  property  of  the  people  who  were 
massacred.  Much  was  never  offered  for  sale.  It  was 
distributed  among  the  perpetrators. 

QUARRELING   OVER    SPOILS. 

It  may  have  been  a  plan  of  the  Almighty  to  bring 
the  circumstances  to  light,  but  certain  it  is  there  was 
much  quarreling,  bitterness,  and  heart-burnings  over 
the  division  of  the  property.  Haight  and  Lee  quar- 
reled. The  Indians  complain  to  this  day  that  they 
were  badly  used.  The  people  were  greatly  dissatis- 
fied over  their  portion,  claiming  that  the  leaders — Lee, 
Haight,  Dame,  and  Higbee — took  the  lion's  share. 

Some  of  the  participants  were  partially  rewarded. 
A  man  who  had  but  one  cow  before  suddenly  had 
four  or  five,  and  one  who  had  a  poor  wagon  previous 
to  the  massacre  was  discovered  to  have  an  excellent 
new  one. 

LEE    TELLS    THE    CRIME. 

John  D.  Lee  was  the  first  to  disclose  the  horrible 
news.  It  seems  to  have  gnawed  so  hard  at  the  old 


THE  MOUNTAIN  MEADOWS  MASSACRE.       317 

man's  heart  that  he  could  not  conceal  it  longer.  He 
traveled  up  through  the  Territory  and  told,  every- 
where, that  the  Indians  had  massacred  a  train  !  The 
world  believed  the  tale,  and  no  hearts  shuddered 
with  more  intense  horror  than  those  of  the  Mormon 
people.  A  marked  peculiarity  of  this  strange  people 
is,  that  they  seldom  ask  questions.  The  Mormons 
deserve  to  be  as  celebrated  for  their  secretiveness  as 
the  Yankees  are  for  their  inquisitiveness.  A  Mormon 
can  travel  through  the  whole  of  southern  Utah  and 
never  be  asked  his  name,  occupation,  or  destination. 
They  strictly  mind  their  own  business  ;  for  this  reason 
news  travels 


HOW   THE  TRUTH    WAS   TOLD. 

At  last  it  was  whispered  that  white  men  helped 
the  Indians.  No  one  believed  it  at  first.  The  ter- 
rible rumors  began  to  multiply  rapidly.  The  secret 
which  is  shared  by  scores  of  people  cannot  be  kept  a 
secret  long  if  it  involves  such  horrible  bloodshed.  A 
large  train  passed  through  to  California  soon  after 
the  massacre,  and  learned  some  things.  Friends  in 
the  States  became  worried  over  the  mysterious  si- 
lence of  their  loved  ones,  and  advertised.  Aden's 
father  was  one  of  these.  Trains  from  Arkansas  and 


318         THE  MORMON  PROBLEM — APPENDIX. 

Missouri  asked  what  had  suddenly  become  of  their 
old  friends  and  neighbors.  A  party  of  young  Mor- 
mons first  brought  the  news  to  California.  They 
heard  the  story  in  southern  Utah,  and  gave  it  very 
correctly.  Next  came  the  confession  of  Spencer,  a 
Mormon  school  teacher,  who  became  quite  a  mono- 
maniac on  the  subject.  He  talked  constantly  of  the 
part  he  had  enacted  in  the  frightful  tragedy. 

CONFESSIONS    BECAME   FREQUENT. 

J.  M.  Young,  another  participant,  told  the  entire 
history  of  the  deed.  About  this  time  the  "Deseret 
News"  devoted  an  editorial  to  the  subject  of  the 
massacre,  and  bitterly  denied  Mormon  complicity. 
The  statement  of  the  old  Mormon  chieftain,  Kanosh, 
was  next  made  public.  The  white  Mormons  had 
dealt  unfairly  with  this  red  brother  in  dividing  the 
spoils,  and  he  gave  full  particulars  of  the  affair.  I 
am  under  obligations  to  Mr.  J.  H.  Beadle  for  the 
information  in  this  paragraph. 

RESTING   AT   LAST. 

We  know  little  about  death,  yet  our  ideas  of  the 

"Sweet  rest  in  heaven" 

are  .certainly  not  connected  with  bleaching  bones 
which  the  gaunt  wolves  gnaw  nightly.  Mayhap  the 


THE  MOUNTAIN  MEADOWS  MASSACRE.        319 

daisies  and  violets  will  never  grow  above  our  graves, 
and,  perchance,  no  sorrowing  tears  will  ever  fall  on 
the  sod  above  our  heads ;  yet  we  all  hope  for  peace- 
ful, quiet  resting-places.  These  poor  emigrants  were 
denied  even  this  slight  boon.  Their  bodies  were 
given  as  a  prey  to  the  beasts  of  the  field  and  the 
vultures  of  the  air ;  and  the  rain  and  snow,  the  storm 
and  sleet,  bleached  and  whitened  the  bones  when  the 
wolves  had  finished.  In  August,  1858,  Government 
sent  Brig.  Gen.  Carleton  to  bury  the  bones,  and 
ordered  Dr.  Forney,  the  Indian  Agent,  who  super- 
seded Brigham,  to  collect  the  surviving  children. 
Two  companies  of  dragoons  camped  on  the  spot  nine 
or  ten  days. 

GHASTLY   RELICS. 

They  found  bones  scattered  for  two  hundred  yards. 
The  skulls  bore  no  marks  of  scalping-knives,  and 
whole  heads  of  women's  hair  were  found,  tied  just  as 
when  the  owners  were  murdered.  For  convenience, 
the  women  who  crossed  the  plains  often  bound  up 
their  hair  with  shoe-strings  or  strong  cords,  and  many 
bunches  were  found  thus  tied  together.  There  were 
also  found  old  wagon-boxes,  broken  and  splintered 
pieces  of  boards,  and  fragments  of  clothing,  shiv- 
ered arrows,  and  flinty  barbs  that  had  lain  buried  in 


320         THE  MORMON  PROBLEM — APPENDIX. 

human  flesh  until  liberated  by  wolf-fangs.  Many  of 
the  bones  had  been  partially  concealed  in  the  dust 
and  mud  along  the  creek 

SQUADS   OF   MEN 

were  sent  thirty  miles  to  get  the  little  ones  from  the 
Mormon  families  in  which  they  were  placed.  Seven- 
teen were  found — fifteen  girls  and  two  boys.  Their 
ages  varied  from  four  to  thirteen  years.  Most  of 
them  had  received  names  from  the  Mormons,  and 
knew  no  others. 

TESTIMONY   OF   THE   CHILDREN. 

It  was  a  great  mistake  to  suppose  children  would 
not  remember.  Impress  such  a  scene  of  horror  upon 
a  child's  mind,  and  time  would  have  little  power  to 
erase  the  memory  of  the  deed.  One  girl  was  nearly 
thirteen  years  old.  Her  testimony  was  clear  and 
unwavering,  and  firmly  established  facts  that  had 
before  been  doubted.  Two  boys,  named  John  Cal- 
vin and  Myron  Tackett,  aged  respectively  nine  and 
seven,  were  brought  to  Salt  Lake  City,  and  placed 
under  the  charge  of  a  most  estimable  lady  until 
arrangements  could  be  made  for  sending  them  to 
Arkansas.  John  would  often  tell  how  he 


THE  MOUNTAIN  MEADOWS  MASSACRE.        321 

PICKED  ARROWS  FROM  HIS  MOTHER'S  BODY 

as  fast  as  the  Indians  would  shoot  them  into  her 
flesh.  He  saw  his  grandfather,  grandmother,  aunt, 
father,  and  mother  murdered. 

Many  of  the  children  saw  Mormon  women  wearing 
their  mother's  dresses.  Haight's  wives  and  Lee's 
wives  were  often  seen  in  Cedar  City  wearing  silks 
and  satins  that  came  from  the  Mountain  Meadow 
women.  Jewelry  and  ornamental  articles  found  their 
way  through  almost  all  the  southern  settlements. 
John  Calvin  says  that  Lee  drove  his  father's  gray 
horses  for  a  few  days,  and  then  a  bishop  obtained  pos- 
session of  them.  Mrs.  Worley  went  to  the  States  with 
these  children,  and  most  of  them  were  placed  in  the 
care  of  friends  or  relatives.  Seventeen  years  have 
elapsed,  but  some  of  these  children  would  be  valuable 
witnesses  should  the  murderers  be  brought  to  trial. 

Philip  K.  Smith,  an  apostate  bishop,  fled  to 
Pioche,  and  made  a  full  and  complete  affidavit  of 
the  events  of  the  massacre.  He  was  present,  and 
engaged  in  the  bloody  work.  Two  others  went,  like 
Smith,  to  a  justice  of  the  peace,  and  made  lengthy 
affidavits  of  the  particulars. 

When  the  facts  became  notoriously  public  Lee  and 
21 


322        THE  MORMON  PROBLEM — APPENDIX. 

Haight  were  cut  off  from  the  Church.  Brigham 
Young,  on  his  southern  trips,  used  always  to  asso- 
ciate with  these  worthies,  however,  and  a  southern 
bishop  says  Haight  has  since  been  restored.  Lee 
rode  through  the  streets  of  Kauarra  last  April  in  the 
president's  carriage,  sat  beside  Brigham  in  the  pulpit, 
and  was  Brigham's  host  at  Harmony.  Lee  tells  me, 
that,  although  "cut  off,"  he  considers  himself  as 
much  of  a  Mormon  as  ever. 

SKULKING    COWARDS. 

From  Beaver  and  Cedar  a  general  stampede  has 
been  made  since  the  sitting  of  the  Grand  Jury  in 
the  Second  District.  Haight  and  Higbee  are  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Kanab,  below  St.  George.  Bill 
Stewart  is  in  the  same  locality.  MTarlane,  the 
Cedar  City  postmaster,  has  not  dared  to  make  an 
appearance  at  home  except  on  one  evening,  when  he 
came  from  the  south  in  the  stage  just  after  dark. 
He  was  closely  muffled  and  disguised,  and  left  in 
half  an  hour.  He  is  said  to  have  been  very  active 
during  the  massacre. 

THE   MONUMENT  . 

is  a  heap  of  large  stones  gathered  from  the  neighbor- 
ing hill-sides.  It  is  an  irregular  pile,  twenty  feet 


THE  MOUNTAIN  MEADOWS  MASSACRE.       323 

long  and  seven  feet  wide.  It  is  highest  in  the  mid- 
dle, and  slopes,  like  the  roof  of  a  house,  to  each  side. 
It  is  only  three  or  four  feet  high,  and  hears  no  cross 
or  inscription.  The  first  monument  and  cross  were 
totally  destroyed,  and  when  rebuilt  by  the  United 
States  soldiers,  the  cross  was  again  demolished. 

Perhaps  the  perpetrators  disliked  the  inscription, 
"  Vengeance  is  mine,  I  will  repay,  saith  the  Lord." 
Poor  fools  !  The  sentiment  is  to-day  stamped  upon 
thousands  of  American  hearts,  and,  while  vandals 
destroy  the  poor  wooden  cross  above  the  murdered 
emigrants,  they  only  succeed  in  impressing  the  wrord 
"Vengeance"  more  deeply  upon  the  hearts.  May 
Gad  speed  the  triumph  of  justice  ! 

A.  M.  P.  O. 


THE   END. 


